In this Issue... The Cabletow Centennial Staff VW JESUS FLOR R. NICOLAS Editor-in-Chief

WB EDMUND CORONEL Associate Editor

From the Grand East VW PERCIVAL T. SALAZAR Managing Editor 2 A Centennial of Magnanimous Spirit By MW Santiago T. Gabionza, Jr. VW EMMANUEL J. DIESTA Circulation Manager Pro Bono Fraternitatis 4 A “Day in the Life of a Lodge BRO JOSE EUGENIO B. ILLENBERGER By MW Danilo Angeles, PGM, GS Art Director

News MW REYNATO S. PUNO, PGM, GMH 8 Consultant JENNIFER C. MAGALLANES Cover Story Secretary 17 Goodwill marked the GLP Centennial

Milestone 22 Malinao Lodge No. 50 Centennial About the Cover

Special Feature The cover features memorable shots from the Special Communications commemorat- Philippine Freemasonry Before 1896 23 ing the Centennial Anniversary of the Grand By WB Edmund Coronel Lodge of Free & Accepted Masons of the Philippines on December 19, 2012. The top District Conventions picture shows Centennial Grand Master MW 59 The Masonic Heartlands Santiago T. Gabionza, Jr. presiding over the By VW Jovy Magbanua, HEAAGM Rededication Ceremonies of the Grand Lodge in the morning. Photo below shows MW Ga- bionza, the Past Grand Masters and Special Feature Guest, Paquito Ochoa, Jr., Malacanan Execu- 64 The Widow’s Son in You tive Secretary, toasting the brethren at the By Bro. Ariston B. Samilin Fiesta Pavilion in Manila Hotel after dinner.

Community Service 65 NCR-B gives free medical mission

In Due Form 65 The End THE CABLETOW is a bimonthly publication of the Grand Lodge of Free & Accepted By Bro. Jonathan R. Amoroso Masons of the Philippines. Main Office: Plaridel Masonic Temple, San Marcelino St., Ermita, Manila, D 2801, Philippines. Members of Blue Lodges in this grand jurisdic- tion are regular subscribers thereto. Brethren in other grand jurisdictions are invited to subscribe to it at US $20 a year. Send check payable to the Grand Lodge of Free & Announcements Accepted Masons of the Philippines, with complete mailing address, to THE CABLE- 67 TOW at the address given above. Subscribers are advised to notify THE CABLETOW of address changes. Original articles are subjected to editing and, when published, become Cabletow property. Any article in THE CABLETOW may be reprinted in full, or excerpts thereof reproduced, provided proper attribution to the author is made, Out of the Humdrum the source is given due credits, and the Cabletow office is furnished with a courtesy 68 A Lodge of Magicians—Really copy of the reprinted material. By VW Robert Asuncion Paid advertisements are accepted for printing in THE CABLETOW.

The Cabletow | Vol. 89, No. 4, November-December 2012 1 From the Grand East

By MW Santiago T. Gabionza, Jr. Centennial Grand Master A Centennial of Magnanimous Spirit In the month of the Grand Lodge Centennial, MW Gabionza stresses the magnanimous spirit underlying the history of the GLP— something every Filipino Mason must be proud of.

The Centenary has now come with the patience of Job? The greatness upon us. We have made it through. And we of our Filipino predecessors was to tackle now come of age. the situation with a big heart and a sharp mind without straying from the Masonic It greatly pleases us to know that course—especially, when they were pitted we have arrived this far. Perhaps, we are against fellow Masons. For five years, the just too glad that we have not been there Gran Consejo, with then Batangas House to face and wrestled with what our prede- Representative MW Teodoro Kalaw as cessors have gone through. On December Grand Master, had petitioned Madrid for 19, 1912, three American lodges—Manila a breakaway and recognition as a Grand Lodge No. 342, Cavite Lodge No. 350 and Lodge in its own right. Not until Miguel Corregidor Lodge No. 386—were okayed Morayta, Past Grand Master and the kind- and acknowledged by the Grand Lodge of hearted patron of Filpino Freemasons, California to become the “Grand Lodge of died on January 24, 1917. Only then did the Philippine Islands” (or GLPI). That, Kalaw sat down with the GLPI with then actually, was a brutal swipe at the 20 or Commissioner Manuel Luis Quezon and so Filipino-Hispanico lodges grouped to- businessman Tomas Earnshaw negotiat- gether under the Gran Consejo Regional ing. An agreement for a union was sealed. (Regional Grand Lodge) paying obedience to the Gran Oriente de España. And to the But on February 13, 1917, the other lodges of other grand jurisdictions day before the Annual Communication, which had settled down in the Philippine the GLPI committee—composed of Past valley, too. Grand Masters Eugene Stafford and New- ton Comfort and incoming Grand Master Were we to place ourselves in William Taylor—all changed their minds. their shoes, what would we do? Would we They demanded an affiliation—that was, snap back with a reflexive vengeance or outsiders (not equals) coming in. The punitive wrath? Or would we bear it all Three Lights of the Gran Consejo lodges

2 The Cabletow | Vol. 89, No. 4, November-December 2012 had to take an oath before the Altar. Every- time administers the ageing which supplies body had to fill up an affiliation form. next the beauty and grace.

The Filipinos surrendered. But The founding of the GLP in 1912 Quezon, the master politician, had all the comes rough and heavy at the start; so Lights gathered and sworn at Hotel Fran- much so that it rings heavily with under- cia at Escolta, and all affiliation forms filled tones of racial supremacy . Some national- up, all through the night. The following ist Brethren frowned at the event. But the day, the Americans stepped into a route. greatness of our Filipino predecessors was Compliant, the former Gran Consejo Ma- to quickly evade the constriction of reason sons were admitted to the GLPI. They and passion. Just as the reverse, they went were already privileged to vote. But the for the bigness of the heart, and the sharp- problem was, there were 27 Filipino lodg- ness of the mind which perhaps, even for es; the GLPI, only 10. The Americans were reasons unknown to them, had stoked the doomed. The days of the American Grand sparks of magnanimity deep in themselves. Masters were over too soon. The Filipinos comprised a huge and powerful voting bloc. Hence, regardless how vanquished in war they were, yet it had come oddly but The Americans were expecting very inspiringly that a people who had lost a massacre at the balloting. But Incom- so much—the war, their nation—could ing Grand Master William Taylor was give so much fraternal generosity. A fra- elected unanimously. It meant that all the ternal generosity that earned the respect Filipinos went for him. Greatly surprised, of people who looked down upon them. he rushed to Quezon asking how it all hap- A magnanimity that proved that it wasn’t pened. Explaining that the voting turnout by might or wealth; rather by the radiance was the will and pleasure of the Brethren, of Masonic spirit from within which had Quezon nailed Taylor to a deal that lasted dispelled the gloom and make beauty shine for 62 years. “There shall be a rotation in out. the Office of Grand Master. You are Grand Master this year, I am to be the next, and Be proud, Brethren, of the mag- thereafter each American holder of the of- nanimous Masonic spirit which has not fice will be followed by a Filipino Grand only saved, but also sustained the Grand Master,” he said. Lodge of the Philippines over this past one hundred years.

“A people who had lost so much— the war, their nation—could give so much fraternal generosity.” SANTIAGO T. GABIONZA, JR. Centennial Grand Master That is the beauty of our GLP Centenary. A lodge never rises in a day. That’s why we count the days and mark the time. Where some things come bold or gaudy, yet the elements, which are nature’s ubiquitous agents, apply the strokes and polishes that give objects their shape while

The Cabletow | Vol. 89, No. 4, November-December 2012 3 Pro Bono Fraternitatis

By MW Danilo Angeles, PGM Centennial Grand Secretary

A “Day” in the Life of a Lodge The Grand Sec deals here with vacancies in and lapses by the East which every lodge must know—before it’s too late.

The Grand Lodge of Free & Accept- they will have someone to talk to.” ed Masons, this body governing 18,000 Now, back to business. Filipino Freemasons, is now 100 years old. It has come of age. Vacancy in the East

But what’s in an age, after all? Ob- In my previous column, I wrote that I viously, the Grand Lodge has now be- would deal next with the businesses that often come across the Grand Secretary’s come a totally Filipino institution, a table. Since the month of December is giv- clear departure from the ways of its en to Lodge Elections, I will pick out cases American founders in 1912. It’s not that present relevance, as much as valuable perfect. It has its flaws. Like any man- lessons, to the newly-elected officers; par- made institution, it has its high and ticularly, the Masters of the Lodge. low moments. But by all accounts— and trust me on this—it cares for the Fili- One communication deals with the va- pino Brethren despite sporadic hiccups. I cancy of the Master’s station in a certain should know. This is your Grand Secre- lodge. Lodge X has installed WB Doroteo tary speaking. (not his real name) in February. But over the next 6 months, WB Doroteo has never sat in the East, or even showed up in the So, bring out the champagne and lodge, to assume his duties and powers. All throw a couple of toasts here and this time, it is the Senior Warden who has there. A gigolo acquaintance once said been convening, presiding and running the that age has its payback. The “age of lodge. seniority,” he said, is the time when a man must keep two girls at his bedside. Question: must Lodge X call for a special That’s fun, I said. But still, I wondered election to unseat WB Doroteo and replace him why. with the working Senior Warden?

He answered, “In case I fall asleep, Answer: No.

4 The Cabletow | Vol. 89, No. 4, November-December 2012 It is impractical and irrelevant to hold presided over his lodge in three (3) consecutive a special election anymore. From a Mas- months (or stated meetings) is liable for replace- ter’s installation say, in February, nine (9) ment. So, Lodge X should have informed the months are spread out before him to gov- Grand Lodge right on the third month—that ern his lodge before the mandated elections is, earlier. come again in December. A formal communication to the Grand Now, Lodge X has communicated the Master, backed by a Lodge Resolution, will issue to the Grand Master ONLY in the present a credible complaint. A copy should sixth month. Should an election be held be furnished (“cc”) to the District Deputy in the seventh month, then only 3 or 2 Grand Master and, of course, the Grand months remain for the newly-installed Secretary. Master to do his job—that is, before De- cember comes. That gives him only 1/3 of Once approved, the Grand Master will is- the 9-month period. Where he will serve sue a Dispensation for the conduct of special only a fraction—not even half of—the election. Here, 1/3 of the term has already regular term, then installing a new Master been squandered. The object of the law runs counter to the economy of function (when invoked) is to prevent further waste, and effectiveness. Even if he can initiate a to save and make the most out of the re- program, it is doubtful that he can finish maining balance of 6 months, and to put it with intended or meaningful result. It the lodge back on track. will be unfair for the Worshipful Brother to install him in the East but fail to live up Election of Trial Commissioners to the obligations he has sworn to fulfill in his Installation with so short a time. So, it This is one of the common but sad- is probable that the cure, which is expected dening issues arriving at the Grand Sec- of the special election, may just result in retary’s table over the past seven years. A the contrary; even make a mockery of the Mason or so wants to put another Mason Master’s highly-respected office. up for trial. But for one reason or another, the procedure is infringed.

“So, a true and good Master will The Masonic trial procedure takes after be slow and deliberative. Actu- the British jury system. Hence, the election ally, he will hate convening the of “Trial Commissioners,” who function as the jurors, is necessary. Now, here comes special elective body.” WB Pampilo (not his real name) who is presiding over a regular stated meeting of his lodge. Near the end, he announced the With this situation obtaining, the bal- holding of an election for Trial Commis- ance of 3 months—being close to Decem- sioners and caused the same to be accom- ber—will be served out by the Senior War- plished. den in his capacity as acting Master of the Lodge. Question: is WB Pampilo correct to order the election of Trial Commissioners amid a stated Question: when should have Lodge X called meeting and cause the same to be accomplished? for a special election? Answer: No. Answer: a duly-installed Master who has not

The Cabletow | Vol. 89, No. 4, November-December 2012 5 Please refer to our Masonic Law Book, risprudential measure to establish an im- specifically in Ordinances, Article XVIII partial Masonic court; hence, affording a (Charges, Trials and Procedures), F. (Rela- fair trial. Its secrecy not only prevents tive to Masons Individually), Sec. 25., b.— defamation but also, a publicity trial that can pressure, divert or even frustrate “b. The Master shall, in other cases, call a spe- this body of non-professional jurors. cial meeting of his Lodge, as soon as practica- Like the courts of the land, it works on ble, and shall cause the Secretary to issue writ- the assumption that the accused is pre- ten notifications thereof …” sumed innocent until proven guilty. For this, the Trial Commissioners must not A written notice must be sent out to only possess an objective disposition and lodge members to come to the special a sharp mind. Moreover, they must also meeting, specifically for the election of five have heart to enforce and protect a Ma- (5) Trial Commissioners. As you read on, son’s rights, whether he is the plaintiff you will find out that first, priority is given or the defendant. to members who live or work in proxim- ity to the lodge hall. A juror’s job requires That WB Pampilo has infringed on regular attendance. Second, there is a con- this basic but important procedure tells fidentiality of information. This prevents us two things. He is not reading his Ma- defamation of any of the parties in dispute. sonic Law Book (which he has sworn to Or any unwanted influence to come in and in his Installation). Or he is prejudiced corrupt the trial. And third, everything is against the defendant (by demolishing to be set in black-and-white for documenta- the accused before the Lodge and the tion, transparency and accountability. whole fraternity even before the trial begins). Both ways, it makes everybody Clearly, the election of Trial Commis- wonder how he has become a Worshipful sioners must be held on a day apart from Master. It makes him less of a Master the monthly stated meeting and is there- and worse, even a lesser Mason. fore, a special meeting. Why? Because the election has a specific and delicate purpose Day and Night of its own, with a distinct set of transac- tions, that comes with a distinct set of pro- A similar issue dropped at the Grand cedures requiring strict adherence. Secretary’s table. But it is more compli- cated than the first.

“Actually, Freemasonry will be WB Torribio (not his real name) far better off without these convened Lodge Y at its regular stated meeting. At the end, he closed it. After anomalies and controversies. a break, he called the lodge back to the We are a fraternity, in the first hall, announced the holding of the elec- place—a fraternity founded on tion for Trial Commissioners, and caused Brotherly Love. “ the same to be accomplished. Presum- ably, it was done just to comply with the rule of electing Trial Commissioners on In all, the election of Trial Com- Special Meeting. missioners is an intrinsic part of the Masonic due process of law. It is a ju- Question: is WB Torribio correct to hold the election of Trial Commissioners right

6 The Cabletow | Vol. 89, No. 4, November-December 2012 after and outside of the stated meeting when NOTH- Hence, the election of Trial Commissioners ING in the Masonic Law Book explicitly prevents can never be held during or right after a stated him so? meeting. It must take place on another day with summonses sent out. Seemingly, the wisdom of Answer: NO. the law wants the Brethren to “sleep on it” first and ponder the next “day.” Since the Brethren Masonic jurisprudence follows the practice of will be called for a vote, then they must have time justice of the land. But it remains Masonically to exchange info, compare notes, deliberate and distinct in larger part. It speaks in the symbols arrive at a well-founded decision. A Brother’s of our doctrines and rituals. It works after our name is at stake. So, a true and good Master will ancient customs and time-honored practices. be slow and deliberative. Actually, he will hate convening the special elective body. On the con- Here, WB Torribio cut corners but ended trary, unmasonic Masters rush where the sane up in some dark and blind alley. Take notice are cautious. that the lodge has already been closed when he summoned the Brethren back to the hall. That’s In most cases, Masters, who are goaded by wrong. No business, whether regular or special, unmasonic causes, tricked the lodge by disguis- can be conducted anymore after the lodge’s clo- ing the election as one of the meeting’s agenda. sure. Sometimes, they bullied the lodge by banging the gavel fast once opposition rises. This sup- Article number 11 of “The Old York Constitu- plants the mind of the Brethren, robs them of tion of 926,” a compendium of ancient Masonic their decision—and makes the lodge an unwit- laws, reads— ting accomplice to injustice. In the end, these Masters often turn out to be advocates of the “And Masons shall not be obliged to work after the sun plaintiff, or stooges of lodge factions which have has set in the West.” interests at stake.

This is among the Masonic laws that have An unmasonic Master like this can really pull been practiced since “time immemorial.” Once a fast one. But regardless how they congratulate the sbst fr ||anc msts w, acmpd b || dgs @ §s, themselves in the aftermath, yet the whole thing have been passed down to the Senior Warden looks inane. It is no different from a tin-pot dic- and locked away for the time being, all lodge la- tator who launches a coup against his own etat bors virtually ceased. It all remains for the Senior (state). And dictators, of course, are deposed. Warden to confirm its safekeeping, to inform the Master of “the end of the day,” and to pay the Masonic law frowns wryly at this violation. workers their wages. Actually, Freemasonry will be far better off without these anomalies and controversies. We In short, “Sarado na ang tindahan.” The shop are a fraternity, in the first place—a fraternity is closed. founded on Brotherly Love. But Freemasonry recognizes the fallibility of men so that it has So, whenever a lodge opens, it sets the craft worked in certain safety valves to let off the at work and thus, comprises a “day” of labor; its occasional steam. Unmasonic Masters jam or termination, a “night.” When the Master sched- break these safety systems. Where a squabble is ules another day of work, the Junior Warden— workable, they blew it into World War III pro- whose job is “to observe the time”—sends out portions—passing the trouble of their machina- the text messages t cl || crf fm lb t rf, @ fm rf t tion to the Grand Lodge and the injury to the lb agn. So the cycle goes. Fraternity’s good name.

The Cabletow | Vol. 89, No. 4, November-December 2012 7 News

Representing Philippine Freemasonry, Cen- tennial Grand Master MW Santiago Gabi- onza, Jr. gained the honor of depositing the replica urn at the foot of the Rizal monument in behalf of the hero’s descendants.

The GLP, through Assistant Grand Secretary VW Waldemar “Boy” Val- mores (left) and Assistant Grand Treasurer VW Dennis Gabionza (right), was among the early birds to lay a wreath at the Rizal monument.

8 The Cabletow | Vol. 89, No. 4, November-December 2012 Walking behind the Philippine and GLP colors carried by PNP personnel, the GLP party had reached the southern foot of Jones Bridge when MW Gabion- za teamed up with VW Vic Badoy, excutive director of the National Historical Commission of the Philippines (NHCP), for the interment ceremony.

Freemasons figured in the 116th Rizal Day

Timed with its centennial, the Grand Lodge Avelino I. Razon, Jr., PGM, Mabuhay Shrin- of Free and Accepted Masons of the Philip- ers; Eminent Grand Commander SK Romeo S. pines (GLP) ended the year with a place of Musngi and Grand High Priest M. E. Rafael J. honor in the 116th anniversary of Jose Rizal’s Roxas, both of the Philippine Grand York Rite. martyrdom on December 30, 2012. From Binondo, the Order of the Knights of Significantly, the 116th Rizal Day coincided Rizal in their caballeros ceremonial garb, trailed with the interment centenary of Rizal’s re- a horseless caisson pulled by a 4X4 military mains. In 1912, a bone from the hero’s spinal truck bearing a 1912 replica urn. column cracked by a rifle bullet—long kept as a Rizal family memento—was ceremoniously MW Gabionza met them at the Luneta, along- transported from the house of Narcisa, a sister side Reghis Romero II, Supreme Commander of of Rizal, in Binondo to the Luneta Park. the Knights of Rizal, and VW Vic Badoy, execu- tive director of the National Historical Commis- The 1912 memorial service—which had been sion of the Philippines (NHCP). Trailing the urn led by Rizal’s contemporary Masons and the behind were Gemma Cruz- Araneta and Victor Knights of Rizal—was restaged in December. Reyes who represented the Rizal descendants.

“The nation remembers,” said Centennial MW Gabionza walked next with the Knights Grand Master MW Santiago T. Gabionza Jr. of Rizal to the monument and deposited the urn “The labors of our Brethren a hundred years himself at the base. ago were not in vain.” “It was like a gift from Bro. Rizal from the MW Gabionza led the GLP party in the re- grave,” said MW Gabionza smiling. “No event enactment along with RW Juanito G. Espino, so momentous had capped our GLP Centennial Jr., Deputy Grand Master in a 4 a.m. march Anniversary on December 19 than the cente- from Binondo to Luneta. nary of his remains’ interment on the 30th. For whatever significance this uncanny coincidence Other Masons comprising the GLP delega- presents us, it looks like Bro. Rizal never wanted tion were Assistant Grand Treasurer VW Den- his ideas and spirit to be left out of our fellow- nis T. Gabionza; Assistant Grand Secretary ships and labors. For all its worth, thank you VW J. Waldemar V. Valmores; Potentate Ill. very much, our Illustrious Brother.”

The Cabletow | Vol. 89, No. 4, November-December 2012 9 AFP & PNP Masonic clubs inked fraternal agreement

RW Tomas G. Rentoy III, Junior Grand Warden, (left) signed the fraternal agreement in behalf of PNPA BEST with his counterpart, WB Alfredo M. Ramos, PM, (right) for the AFP Sojourners Club. Looking on are Centennial Grand Master MW Santiago Gabionza, Jr. and VW Voltaire T. Gazmin, Secretary of National Defense.

Masons in uniforms belonging to two The MOU bound them, first, to come major service clubs signed a “fraternal re- together and cooperate in future projects; lationship” agreement at Camp Aguinaldo second, to share information and materials; in Quezon City on November 23. third, to iron out ways to effectively carry out charity and education projects; and It was the first time the AFP (Armed fourth, to hold periodic joint fellowships. Forces of the Philippines) Sojourners’ Club and the PNPA (Philippine National VW Voltaire T. Gazmin, Secretary of Police Academy) Brotherhood of Excel- National Defense, came to deliver the In- lent Sojourners and Travelers (BEST) had spirational Message and stood as witness teamed up together. The former is made to the signing. up of Masons from the different services of the military; the latter, from the police Also, Centennial Grand Master MW service. Santiago Gabionza, Jr. witnessed the sign- ing and delivered the closing message. Presidents of each service club signed a “Memorandum of Understanding” BEST (MOU). WB Alfredo M. Ramos, PM, head- ed the AFP Sojourners Club just as RW The current set of PNPA BEST offic- Tomas G. Rentoy III, Junior Grand War- ers are the following: Bro. Lakan Tomas G. den, represented the PNPA BEST. Rentoy III, president; Bro. Lakan Jose A.

10 The Cabletow | Vol. 89, No. 4, November-December 2012 Logo of AFP Sojourners’ Club(left) and PNPA BEST (right).

Roncesvalles, vice-president; Bro. Lakan were handed out as mementos. Ramon C. Clavecillas, vice-president; Bro. Lakan Mario N. Rariza, Jr., treasurer; Bro. The PNPA BEST was finally up and Lakan Edgar B. Paatan, secretary; Bro. La- running in 2010, marked by a Fellowship kan Florendo C. Quibuyen, auditor; Bro. Dinner at the Tagaytay Country Hostel. Lakan Fidel G. Posadas, chaplain; Bro. La- The club’s directory numbered to 365 reg- kan Nicanor S. Salvador, historian; Bro. La- ular Masons and 35 honorary members. kan Jose A. I. Magbanua, secretariat. A set of officers was also elected with RW Twenty-two members of the PNPA Rentoy as the first president. RW Rentoy, Magiting Class (1983) begun the club in in turn, appointed 17 regional presidents 2008. They agreed to round up the Masons comprising the 17 BEST regional offices, among the PNPA alumni and draw them including class representatives. into establishing a Square and Compass Club. On December 13, 2010, then Grand Master Avelino Razon, Jr. inducted the The effort didn’t take off until a directo- first set of officers. ry of Masons, even Petitioners for Masonic Degrees, in the PNP service had been com- Presently, PNPA BEST is into holding pleted. Organizers at this time were Tom regularly the PNPA Alumni Homecom- Rentoy, Nick Salvador, Egay Paatan and ing Fellowship Dinner, Christmas Party, Ante Leano. VW Joby Magbanua, honor- and Golf Tournament between the PNPA ary member of PNPA Magiting Class of classes. 1983, ran the secretariat. Sojourners’ Club The directory wasn’t completed until 2009 when the group had put up a booth Officers of the AFP Sojourners’ Club are at the PNPA Alumni Homecoming. Soon, as follows: WB B/Gen. Alfredo M. Andres, a total of 243 members and 20 honorary AFP, president; Bro. B/Gen. Ramon C. Ca- members were listed. PNPA BEST hats bal, AFP, vice-president; Bro. Maj. Richie

The Cabletow | Vol. 89, No. 4, November-December 2012 11 Jay A. Bisco (FS), PA, secretary; Bro. Ltc. Installation of Officers on December Ferdinand C. Compay (FS), PA, treasurer; 16, 2012 at the Heritage Hotel in Ma- WB MSg. Relly Salvador (SC), PA, audi- nila. tor; Bro. Col. Dinoh A. Dolina (GSC), PA, business manager; and VW Ltc. Jeffrey M. Bing Barro, of FMN Florida Chapter, Belagan (GSC), DS, PRO. was officially installed as President.

The group picked up where the former The PMMAI has nine chapters spread AFP Square and Compass Club had found- across the U.S., as follows: in Chicago, Illi- ered in 2000. In 2010, then AFP Chief of nois (AFFI); Great Lakes, Illinois (FTGL); Staff, Gen. Ricardo David, Jr. summoned Hampton Beads, Virginia (THRV); Los all the Masons in Camp Aguinaldo and in- Angeles, California (Acacia Craftsmen structed them to revive the GHQ (General Inc.); Memphis, Tennessee (PMATI); New Headquarters) Square and Compass Club. Jersey (PMANJ); New York, New York Hence, then M/Gen. Jose Tony Villarete (PMAAI-NY); Northern Florida (FMNF); sat down with Gen. Remigio M. De Vera, and in Seattle, Washington (PASS). Col. Samuel L. Narbuada, Col. Alfredo M. Andres, Col. Ramon C. Cabal, Capt. Rufino Other newly-installed officers were : Arias and Col. Dinoh A. Dolina. They vot- Manoloto Gatbonton, THRV Virginia ed to rename the former AFP Square and Chapter, Executive Vice President; Jim Compass Club the “AFP Sojourners’ Club” Klinefelter, PASS Chapter Seattle WA, 2nd after the transitory nature of military VP West; Vince Cabrera. AFFI Chicago Il- postings to different assignments. linois Chapter, 2nd VP Central; Elias Vo- ces, Jr., THRV Virginia Chapter, 2nd VP The club was registered at the Securities East; Tristan Satin, New York Chapter, and Exchange Commission (SEC) on April Secretary; Rene Alfonso, New York Chap- 4, 2011. Bro. Gen. Villarete was elected as ter, Treasurer; Eddie Limon, FMN Florida the first president. Chapter, Auditor; Ray Legazpi, (TBA), Chaplain; and Mel Barcena, (TBA), Mar- The Soujourners’ Club actively extend- shall. ed help to fellow soldiers wounded in ac- tion. On September 21, 2012, it donated 7 The 2013 set of officers were installed by wheelchairs to permanently disabled sol- RW Juanito G. Espino, Jr. Deputy Grand diers in Fort Bonifacio General Hospital. Master of the Grand Lodge of Free & Ac- cepted Masons of the Philippines. Master Based in Camp Aguinaldo, the club has of Ceremonies was Ray Ibañez, PMAAI registered some 305 travellers so far who Past President. attended the monthly meetings—a quarter made up of the camp’s Mason officers, en- Installing Marshall was MW Godof- listed personnel and civilian employees. redo Santy Lascano, PGM Grand Lodge of Washington.

PMAAI installs 2013 The PMAAI Appointed Officers for the year were: Val Basiga, Jr., Ambassador to officers in Manila the GLP; Richard “Dick” Talusan, His- torian; Manny Eco, Executive Secretary; The Philippine Masonic Association Ver Quijano, Finance; Ross Rosales, Con- of America Inc. (PMAAI) held its 28th stitution & By-laws; Greg Dy, Scholarship

12 The Cabletow | Vol. 89, No. 4, November-December 2012 Foundation; Ross Rosales and Manolo Gat- and privileges with the Americans. Con- bonton, Webmaster & List Moderators; sequently, a deep brotherly relation had Mac “Jun” Ramos, National Convention run between them, extending even to the Director & Rural Outreach; and G. Santy attainment of Philippine independence in Lascano, Protocol Officer & Advisor. 1946.

Centennial Grand Master MW San- “They passed on a fraternal generos- tiago T. Gabionza delivered the inspira- ity that had earned the profound respect tional speech. Recalling the merger of the of Masons all over,” said Gabionza. “It was 27 Gran Oriente lodges and the 10 Grand a magnanimity that had stood as evidence Lodge of the Philippine Islands (GLPI) that it wasn’t might and wealth that mat- lodges in 1917, he urged all to keep up tered; rather the radiance of Masonic spirit with the magnanimity extended by the lat- from within which had dispelled the gloom, ter. Outnumbering the GLPI lodges, yet and made the nobility of Filipino Masons Filipino Masons generously shared power shone out.”

(Above) December 10, 2012. The officers of the newly-instituted San Miguel de Mayumo Lodge: (Front row from left) VW Felix Flor Cruz, Two UD Lodges Secretary; VW Pete de Rueda, Treasurer; Bro. Raymund Flor Cruz, Junior Warden; Bro. Dennis Vergara, Senior Warden; and VW Ramon Mañalac, instituted Worshipful Master.

Central Luzon U.D. lodges were institut- ed at the GLP over the past months—San Miguel de Mayumo Lodge in Bulacan and Porac Lodge in Pampanga.

(Right) November 22, 2012. The Lights of the newly-instituted Porac Lodge. (Front row from left) VW Rodolfo Ocampo, Worshipful Master; VW Eladio Dela Cruz, Senior Warden; and VW Lorenzo Detran, Jr., Jun- ior Warden.

The Cabletow | Vol. 89, No. 4, November-December 2012 13 Officers of the Order of De Molay paid a courtesy call to Centennial Grand Master MW Santiago Gabionza, Jr. on December 6, 2012. (From left to right) VW Antonio Espejo, Deputy Grand Master; VW Rodel Riezl Reyes, Grand Master of the Supreme Council; RW Juanito Espino, Jr., Deputy Grand Master; and WB Edison Abella, Grand Senior Councilor.

During his watch, he made the Na- Bros in the news tional Disaster Risk Reduction and Man- agement Council (NDRRMC), among RW Purisima in as new PNP chief his functions, a reliable agency. But still, he had traveled to Isabela regularly to RW Alan C. Purisima, Senior Grand fulfill his Grand Lodge Inspector duties. Warden, was appointed Police Director General of the Philippine National Po- lice (PNP) on December 18, 2012. RW Purisima He replaced former PNP chief Nica- nor Bartolome.

RW Purisima graduated from the Philippine Military Academy (PMA) Di- malupig Class of 1981. He also earned a Masters Degree in Public Administra- tion from Manuel L. Quezon University in 1995.

WI Ramos out as DND Usec

WI Benito T. Ramos, GLI of Masonic WI Ramos District RII-B (Isabela & Quirino prov- inces), quit his post as Undersecretary of the Department National Defense (DND) on January 11, 2012.

In his resignation letter to VW Vol- taire Gazmin, DND Secretary, he ex- pressed his desire to look after his ailing wife full-time.

14 The Cabletow | Vol. 89, No. 4, November-December 2012 Kakarong Lodge 327 handed Del Pilar apron replica over to GLP

Kakarong Lodge Master, WB Roger Encarnacion, hands the exhibit plate of the Del Pilar apron replica over to MW Santiago Gabionza Jr.. Others in the photo from left: Tem Cortes, Marlon Mansilla, Rommel Enriquez, VW Ga- briel Crisostomo, VW Lovie Gaboy, & VW Pete de Rueda. Photo By Bro. Tem Cortes / SJCL No.3 & KL 327.

Kakarong Lodge No. 327, of Sta. Maria History town in Bulacan province, formally handed over to MW Santiago Gabionza Jr., Cen- Bro. Coronel recovered the original Del tennial Grand Master, a replica of the Pilar apron in 1983. apron of Illus. Bro. Marcelo Del Pilar y Hilario on October 25, 2012. On December 3, 1920, the government had Del Pilar’s remains shipped from Bar- The replica is a close remake of the orig- celona to Madrid. The Grand Lodge of inal Del Pilar apron which used to adorn the Philippine Islands then led the week- the lobby of the old Grand Lodge building long rites. It was put on public display at before it had been gutted by fire in 1992. Funeraria Nacional, then onto the Grand Opera House and finally the Ayuntamiento Despite heavy rains, WM Roger En- in Intramuros. Prominent Freemasons like carnacio led the Kakarong brethren to pre- Grand Master Teodoro Kalaw, Trinidad sent to WM Gabionza the exhibit plates Pardo H. de Tavera and Rafael Palma took for signature. Next, the replica, encased in turns in delivering speeches and eulogies. a wood-and-glass stand, was turned over. Grand Master Manuel Quezon had VW Luvenario Gaboy , PDGL and a conducted a Masonic funeral rite over Kakarong Past Master, took charge of the it before it was finally interred at the replica’s production. He went into its re- mausoleum for national heroes at the make when he had come into contact with Cementerio del Norte in La Loma, Qu- the late Bro. Eddy Coronel of Jose Rizal ezon City on December 12. No, 22, also from Bulacan.

The Cabletow | Vol. 89, No. 4, November-December 2012 15 WM Gabionza views the replica under the glass as the Kakarong brethren look on.

Transfer The cemetery caretakers quickly agreed saying, “Opo. Marami naman kaming na- A law had authorized the transfer of kukuhang ganyang basahan dito sa semen- Del Pilar’s remains from the North Cem- teryo.” (Yes, sir. We get many such kind of etery to the hero’s hometown in Cupang, rag here in the cemetery.) Bulacan, Bulacan. In 1983, a local cultural group, the Samahang Kalinangan ng Bula- Bro. Coronel picked up the apron and kan, had Del Pilar’s tomb cracked opened carefully collected the acacia leaves in a and pulled the urn out. Bro. Coronel was plastic bag. He delivered these historic Ma- with the group. sonic funerary items to then WM Pacifico Aniag of Malolos Lodge No. 46. In turn, The cemetery workers swept the dried then WM Aniag surrendered the objects to acacia leaves strewn over the urn. Then, WM Reynato S. Puno who was occupying they picked up the dusty apron laid over the the Grand Orient at that time. leaves and threw it at a trash heap. Amid cowans, Bro. Coronel discreetly asked, The replica is now on display at the “Pwede bang mahingi ko na lang ‘yan para ground floor of the GLP lobby. souvenir?” (Can I have it for souvenir?)

16 The Cabletow | Vol. 89, No. 4, November-December 2012 Cover Story

Goodwill marked the GLP Centennial

Help were given out freely and unexpectedly. Foreign Mason guests—many not in the list—came to Manila on their own just to wish well and witness the event.

Modest, yet the Centennial Anniversary celebrations of the Grand Lodge of Free & Accepted Masons of the Philippines (GLP) were marked with goodwill and good cheers on December 19, 2012.

A simple festivity actually had been lined up. But more than 1,000 Brethren from various corners of the Philippine grand jurisdiction came to attend this Special Communication.

The Cabletow | Vol. 89, No. 4, November-December 2012 17 Abad Santos Hall Production of THE CABLE- TOW Special Centennial Issue The Rededication rite, central to the is in progress. Read and see GLP Centennial commemoration, was held at the newly-renovated Jose Abad it all in this commemorative Santos Hall at the third floor of the GLP issue. building. The job hadn’t been completed until December 17, two days before the centenary date. MW Reynato S. Puno, PGM, chair- man of the Centennial Celebrations Repairs were worked into the clouded Committee, explained, “All this has canopy, the Grand Lodge officers’ chairs, been arranged after Most Worship- the “G” up in the East, and the Mosaic ful Gabionza’s theme. That is how it pavements. Other improvements covered should be remembered for its contri- the upholstery of furnitures, repainting butions and legacy to Freemasonry of the lobbies and the grand hall sig- and the country. This builds up expec- nage. tations of a brighter future for Mason- ry in years to come.” The grand hall, with a seating capac- ity of 1,000 persons, hosts official GLP MW Santiago T. Gabionza Jr., Cen- ceremonies, appendant bodies’ meetings tennial Grand Master, had set for this and other like functions. year the theme “Building on our Past, Excelling in the Present, Providing for MW Gabionza financed the renova- our Future: More Masonry for All!” tion expenses himself which amounted to Php 1.5 million. “It is the first time, It clearly surfaced again in his mes- after all, that the Jose Abad Santos hall sage at the Rededication of the Grand has gone under renovation since its con- Lodge Ceremony on the morning of struction,” he said. December 19. Guests and Bros Commonly administered to new- found lodges, yet the Rededication Dressed up for the occasion, Abad San- Ceremony fit the occasion well. tos Hall ably held the Brethren, foreign dignitaries, ladies and Lewisas who were “We commemorate the old by con- also properly attired and disposed to the ducting a ceremony for the new,” MW commemoration. Gabionza told the dignitaries and the Brethren right after the rite. “For Some of the foreign dignitaries who the Grand Lodge of the Philippines, came to the ceremony were as follows: which has attained its centenary, re- RWB Martin H. Thomas, District Grand news its vows with the Supreme Being Master of the District Grand Lodge of that every Mason adores. We reaffirm the Far East Grand Representative; MW our commitment by ministering the G. Santy Lascano, Grand Master, Grand Corn which represents `Freemasonry;’ Lodge of Washington; MW Frank Hayes, the Wine, the `Masonic Virtues;’ and GM, Grand Lodge of Western Australia; the Oil, `Universal Benevolence.’” MW Samuel C. Lo, GM, Grand Lodge of China; MW Kazufumi Mabuchi, GM,

18 The Cabletow | Vol. 89, No. 4, November-December 2012 Newly-renovated Abad Santos Hall was all dressed up for the occasion.

Grand Lodge of Japan; and MW Antonio The same thought ran in MW Gabi- M. Ligaya, GM, Grand Lodge of Hawaii. onza’s message that capped the ceremo- They represented the grand lodges to ny. “Yes, we publicly extolled the noble which the GLP communicated regularly. deeds, and basked in the lofty achieve- Heads and representatives of the Appen- ments, of our Masonic heroes who have dant Bodies also came. given honor to the apron we wear today. But the continuity of Masonic noble All were escorted before the Altar and deeds and lofty achievements require us presented to the Grand East before the to return the favor. And by returning the ceremony began. favor, we provide for the future,” he said.

Rededication From the Centennial Committee to the Rededication Ceremony, a consist- Explaining the why-and-wherefore of ency in thought and works bound all the the Rededication ceremony, MW Puno elements of the commemoration togeth- explained, “As the word implies, we are er—a product of deliberate planning rededicating ourselves to the preserva- and study. tion and promotion of the foundational virtues of Freemasonry. It shows that MW Gabionza concluded, “Indeed, Masons haven’t grown weary of the an- there is no better way to provide for cient virtues which comprised the essence future Masonry but to excel in present of Masonry. It goes to say that Freema- Masonry. And once the GLP has set on sonry is both timely and timeless.” this task, then we can expect that every annual anniversary is truly celebrating,

The Cabletow | Vol. 89, No. 4, November-December 2012 19 MW Gabionza presides from the Grand East with the foreign dignitaries behind.

or worth celebrating, Brotherhood—and er hundred years before us,” he said. Brotherhood is Freemasonry, Virtues While the past century comprised the and Universal Benevolence; short- “glory days” of Philippine Freema- handed by the emblematic Corn, Wine sonry, the oncoming century is “still and Oil.” a mysterious landscape with neither sign nor shape of things to come.” Future While the future remains unknown, The Centennial fest peaked in the yet he pointed out the current “chal- evening. About 1,000 Brethren had lenges that increasingly grow complex, come for dinner at the plush Manila multi-cultural and international.” Hotel. The spacious Fiesta Pavilion Hall was packed. There was hardly For this, he left the challenge to the any walking space left between the ta- Brethren to grasp “the important role bles. you are about to play in the coming years. Today is a fateful day for Philippine Free- MW Gabionza welcomed and masonry. For it sets you onto a new play- thanked all who had come—but not ing field with choices of actions that only without defining the night’s signifi- you, and you alone, can pick and execute. cance. And regardless what your choice is, your action will bring consequences to our be- “A hundred years behind us; anoth- loved Fraternity.”

20 The Cabletow | Vol. 89, No. 4, November-December 2012 Guest of Honor Malacañang Executive Secretary Paquito Ochoa, Jr. explains the parallels between Freemasonry’s tenets and the government’s on-going programs.

Brotherly Love in 1896. The same Brotherly Love un- dergirds the government’s cash-in- Originally slated as the Guest of centive “pantawid kabuhayan” projects Honor, yet President Benigno Simeon and relief programs, he said. Aquino III was unavailable at the last minute. Malacañang Executive Secre- After Ochoa’s speech, all the Past tary Paquito Ochoa, Jr. took his place. Grand Masters present were sum- moned up at the stage. Together, they In his speech, Ochoa acknowledged offered a toast to the centenary of the the important role of Freemasonry in GLP. All Brethren and guests in the the founding of constitutional gov- hall warmly responded. ernments around the world which the American and French Revolutions After a minute, MW Gabionza pro- had started. In the same vein, he said, claimed with his right raised in the air, the government currently pursues the “By the authority vested in me, I de- same line in the promotion of rights clare this Special Communication duly and justice. closed.”

Also, he paid particular notice to The GLP Centennial fest formally the Masonic tenet of Brotherly Love ended.—EC which had been translated into the fra- ternal camaraderie of the Katipuneros

The Cabletow | Vol. 89, No. 4, November-December 2012 21 Milestone

Malinao Lodge No. 50 Centennial

GM Santiago T. Gabionza, Jr. stands amid members of the Pitong Lawa Rainbow for Girls and Werner Paul Schetelig Chapter of Order of De Molay during their as- sembly simultaneous with Malinao Lodge’s centennial celebration.

Malinao Lodge No. 50 of San Pa- blo City, Laguna held its centennial anniversary celebration on October 23, 2012. GM Santiago T. Gabion- za, Jr. came to witness and join the festivity. Lewisas from the Pitong Lawa Rainbow for Girls, and Lewis- GM Santiago T. Gabionza, Jr. hands to es from the Werner Paul Schetelig Bro. Pedro Evangelista a certificate of fifty (50) years in Masonic service as WM Leonel Chapter of the Order of De Molay, Mario F. Barle, Master of Malinao Lodge presented dance numbers to color No. 50 of San Pablo City looks on. the centenary celebrations.

22 The Cabletow | Vol. 89, No. 4, November-December 2012 Special Feature PHILIPPINE FREEMASONRY BEFORE 1896

Take a close look into Philippine Freema- sonry in the Spanish colonial era in this sometimes funny, sometimes outrageous, Special Feature as your introduction to the Grand Lodge Centenary.

Calle Rosario in Binondo, Late 1890s By WB Edmund Coronel, Associate Editor

T he Philippines was a different country back in the 18th century. Intramuros was all the Manila that was, the capital city. It was the most painted and most photographed part of the colony—re- gardless that it was just a 4-km-long heap of bell towers and roof tiles. Here, all the most important and slimiest businesses happened.

The Cabletow | Vol. 89, No. 4, November-December 2012 23 It was like the Philippine Architectural Journal There was none yet of the usual 21st cen- had come to feature a house and all it shot tury hassles. There were no calesas blar- was grandpa’s liniment-scented bedroom. ing wang-wangs. No horses honking and screeching tires on the cobblestones. There Famous, yet the city was hard to find. was no rush hour. (Why call it “rush“ hour Only the most determined invader, like when nothing actually moves?) the British and the Dutch, knew it. Maybe, Manila was defensively disguised by many Old Manila grudgingly rose up eve- names. Anyone inside Manila called it Intra- ryday—5 a.m. for the house helps, 10 for muros (“Within the walls”). When outside, the Spaniards. But Spanish or not, the city it was Ciudad murada (“Walled City”). Walk closed firmly at noon. People went home, in any direction 10 to 30 kilometers about took lunch, doze off to sleep, got up at the Extramuros (“Outside the walls”) and it siesta, took nap again because it was si- was called Provincia de Manila (Province of esta, and returned to work at 2. Or 3 p.m. Manila). That wide arch, sweeping from Ca- They closed shop at 4. When the 6 p.m. loocan to Novaliches, to Pasig and to Baclar- bells tolled, the city firmly stopped. Cara- an, was all under Manila Province, really. bao carts sidled to the corners. Every man and woman in the street froze and said the If the jumble of names hasn’t swirled Angelus. After prayer, people unfroze their your head, Brother, wait till you get a pic- statue-dance-poses. Cart drivers waved one ture of a day in Manila’s late 18th century another by. Indeed, life was dull—but easy life. and calm. Nobody wore giant orange bee costumes to make a living.

Filipinos on bull cart with Binondo Church at the background, 1890s. Rush hour was unknown in OId Manila. But jam-packing commuters were already in practice. But here, the problem was, the cart wouldn’t move. For reasons unknown, the driver joined with his passengers standing up.

24 The Cabletow | Vol. 89, No. 4, November-December 2012 MW Reynold Fajardo, PGM (left) Illus. Bro. Antonio Ma. Regidor (inner left)

References. This Special Feature is supposed to be a “scholarly” work. Scholarly, it must be serious. So, every serious scholarly work must have references. My major reference is the outstanding book, “The Brethren: Masons in the Struggle for Philippine Independence” (1998) by the late Reynold S. Fajardo, PGM. Second is the indispensable 1896 essay “Ma- sonry in the Philippines” which its author, patriot Antonio Ma. Regidor, had originally writ- ten in Spanish and was published in series from 1916 to 1917 in the Far Eastern Freemason. It was reprinted in English in the July-August 1982 issue of THE CABLETOW.

Old Manila was an idyllic place alright—but Calling one another hermano, they not for the right reasons. Behind the calm were were a family—Augustinians, Domini- overlays of ironies that had blocked the course cans, Franciscans, Jesuits, Recoletos. But of progress and thwarted all that was sound they were not a family with mom and dad and good for the Philippines for 300 years. That and kids who loved malling or dining out. clog, like the airball in the toilet drainpipe, was They were rich, serious—some horny— the Spanish clergies who had been the real pow- men who relished counting the ribs crack- er behind the Spanish governors. Sorting out ing under the blow of the cane or rack. the historical twaddles and baggages we got in Or were just too glad to watch how indios, school, we finally narrow down to the fact that the common native Filipinos, could stay it was the religious who were the actual nem- long under the Pasig before they start esis of the Filipino heroes. gurgling.

It is a wonder how the Spaniards have lasted So, that was how things were in late in power for too long a time. But then, German 18th century Philippines. We were a col- Moreno lasted a long time, too. Philippine his- ony. When Spain sneezes, the Philippines tory is complex but unique. Other countries’ catches cold—and the Freemasons go histories are plain and simple. A tyrant duels down with the flu. Freemasons often got with his rebellious people mano-a-mano out in the worst deal. They were at the end of a the battlefield. But here, there was a Cosa Nos- long and vicious food chain. tra of men in frocks who had hidden behind and manipulated the government and the army like But how and why did Filipinos endure marionettes. There had been a good number of the fraile freeloaders for 3 centuries, 3 sane and sympathetic Spanish governors-gen- decades and 3 years? Why did the clergies eral. But the clergies had them jailed (Sebastian love picking on Filipino Freemasons for Hurtado de Corcuera, 1644), kidnapped (Diego their game hunt? How did Filipino Free- de Salcedo, 1668), killed (Fernando Bustamante, masons come about, set on a propaganda 1717), robbed of office (Simon de Anda, 1762) campaign, and turn the tide against the or kicked out of office (Ramon Blanco, 1896). clergies?

The Cabletow | Vol. 89, No. 4, November-December 2012 25 Dominican friars in Piat, Cagayan (1875-1880). Story had it that, after count- ing “Uno … “ and “Dos … ,” the photographer shouted “Pia Alba!” The friars quickly looked away or pretended busy. One even crooked a finger to his buddy. Who really was the father of Maria Clara? (Pia Alba, by the way, was Maria Clara’s mom.)

26 The Cabletow | Vol. 89, No. 4, November-December 2012 The Spanish Clergies

panish clergies delighted in Franciscans, Augustinians and Hos- S spreading the word that, were pitallers of St. John of God. it not for the frailes (friars), King Felipe II would have dropped But let’s be fair. Once out of the the Philippines in 1566. Old Fray convents, the orders raced one an- Fernando Moraga sailed from Ma- other in capturing rich diocesan ter- nila to Madrid, threw himself before ritories. Only the Jesuits had busied the king, and begged Felipe II to themselves with establishing theo- keep the islands no matter how cost- cratic utopias. ly to maintain. But the monarch had a ready answer: “Depart with God, In 1611, they herded the Guarani Padre Moraga, and be assured that I tribesmen in Paraguay into a cou- will not give up what my father had ple of farming communes equipped conquered and left me.” with barnyards and workshops. The natives were drilled in the sacra- Obviously, Felipe II had already ments, the hourly church bells, the made up his mind to keep and de- use of the machete and the plow, velop the family real estate even and the Pavlovian reflex. Soon, the before Fray Moraga pestered him. project made a splash around the The clergies just puffed up the story world. Even the Jesuit-hater Voltaire to instill a deep sense of Church- praised it as the “triumph of human- indebtedness among the indios for ity” which absolved the sins of the three centuries. It’s very much like a early brutal conquistadores. Holly- newly-Raised Mason nagged by the wood made it into a Robert De Niro Old Boys for 300 years with “Were movie titled The Mission. it not for me, you won’t be made into a Mason.” The Philippine Jesuits actually preceded their Paraguayan brothers Short of seminary-schooled in theocratic utopias. But sadly, they priests, the Spanish Crown shook up didn’t make a name. In his 1604 ac- the conventos and shooed the monks count, Relacion de las Islas Filipinas, away to the corners of the vast Span- Jesuit Padre Pedro Chirino (pro- ish empire. They were called frailes nounced ki-ri-no) was too glad to re- or friars because they belonged to port that phenomenal kids in his mis- the 10 mendicant—that is, “poor,” sion in Taytay (Rizal) were teaching “beggarly,” or “propertyless”—or- the sluggish grown-ups’ catechism ders which included the Dominicans, classes. When the bells tolled, chil-

The Cabletow | Vol. 89, No. 4, November-December 2012 27 View of Intramuros from Parian Gate. The view, expectedly, was all churches and roof tiles. This gate was reserved only for the use of indios and Chinese. Seemingly, “mainte- nance” wasn’t in the Spanish program. See the dense growth rising from the moat.

dren went out to the streets behind sion were Mao’s re-education camps a wooden cross, and rounded up all during the Cultural Revolution. The the adults back to the Church. He Taytay commune was actually a pro- wrote— totype of the modern political utopi- as to come so that it had appeared in To each old man is assigned a boy, movies in many forms. My favorite is who instructs him and is careful to re- the film The Killing Fields: 10-year- port how much the old man is learning; old kids in black pajamas, ratting and then, if the old man gives a good ac- pointing the lumpenproletariats out count of himself, he is privileged to cease to the Khmer Rouge extermination his attendance. squads.

Hand it to the Jesuits. They were The Godstruck monks were help- pioneers. If the Paraguay missions ful in the conquista (conquest). But were the pleasant version of the keeping the frailes in the colonies for Stalin kulak farms, Chirino’s mis- good was a very bad idea. They were

28 The Cabletow | Vol. 89, No. 4, November-December 2012 not the jolly type of friars like Robin cetic convents. They had reason to Hood’s Friar John. Not the helpful spite the world which they handily friar that fought beside Zorro. They called contemptus mundi. had little or no education at all. If they had, they wouldn’t enter the Contempt also for the Filipinos was convents in the first place which, ac- all over the writings of the Spanish tually, were the refuge of the Span- friars. Sample this portion from the ish social dregs. Besides, the habit Augustinian Fray Juan Francisco de was coarse and itchy; the tonsure, San Antonio’s Cronicas (Chronicles) funny. That was why they hid in as- 1738-1744, under the chapter “The

Manila Cathedral after the June 3, 1883 earthquake. The cathedral’s stand-alone bell tower was toppled down by the powerful tremors just as parts of the city and the suburbs had been leveled to the ground.

The Cabletow | Vol. 89, No. 4, November-December 2012 29 native peoples and their customs”— Sample a couple of San Agus- tin’s diatribes—“21. They care more “Among so many barbaric customs, the for their disheveled hair than they do for universality of their vices prevailed; their souls.” and they were infidel, tyrannical, and unchaste. They regarded virginity as an That was easy for Fray San Agus- opprobrium, and there were men who tin to say when friars had their tops received a salary for this office of de- shaven. flowering [the girls] of their virginity.” “16. They are curious, rude and imper- Ridiculous! If it were true, then tinent, and accordingly, when they meet the Spaniards would have found a the father they generally ask him where booming industry—and the most he is going and whence he is coming; and interesting signboards—all over the innumerable questions, all impertinent country. and troublesome.”

That was the problem with the That, actually, was being polite friars. Sending the monks out to of Filipinos. What the indios really the world was like sending a Boy wanted to ask the fraile was “Who, Scout troop to a nudist camp for the Padre, is the Maria Clara you are go- weekend. The experience would, of ing to ravish tonight? Will it be my course, induce lycanthropy in every neighbor, my daughter or poor Tag- schoolboy—and they would howl pî this time?” the wildest and most skewed vision of the world to the moon. “(36). So great is the ease and tenacity with which they believe the greatest non- But the Spanish misreading of Fil- sense.” ipino life and culture wasn’t always funny. One of the classical pieces Like the Spanish religion? on Filipino slur is the 1720 “Letter on the Filipinos” by the Augustin- “70. It is a thing to be wondered at that ian Fray Gaspar de San Agustin. even the dogs have another disposition, It was San Agustin’s private letter and have a particular aversion to Span- to a friend—which his Augustinian iards. When they see Spaniards, they brothers made public. The long rant choke themselves with barking.” began with “First, they are remark- able for their ingratitude…” So Come on, Padre! They actually went on the revilement like “They “choke themselves with” … laughter. are naturally rude” or “They are so They are calling you funny names! distrustful.” Filipino askals are smart.

30 The Cabletow | Vol. 89, No. 4, November-December 2012 The frailes were a rude, boorish ple must be free before it could declare and uncultured lot. They were not war against a state. So, the people rose the crème of the Spanish crop. But up in a bloody revolution against the what gall they had to look down so Spaniards and when they got to be lowly on the Filipinos! Had Filipinos free, they would declare war against only read these racial slurs, Filipinos Spain. Something like that. would no doubt declare war against Spain. But there was something in The point is, a revolution broke out international law saying that a peo- in 1896.

Voltaire. His wit and reason stoked George Washington. The 1776 American the republican ideas of the French Revolution he had led gave the world the Revolution. oldest constitution still in use today.

Freemasons figured in the rise of constitutional governments

For a quarter of century, the Ameri- Freemasons were behind the revolutions; can and French revolutions shook the West hence, old-liners frowned at the Breth- and eventually changed the world. Crowns ren. Revolutions advocated republics, de- were deposed; the Church, defied. The rev- throned monarchs, equalized people, and olutionaries, comprised largely of Freema- tolerated all established religions. sons, installed constitutional governments called “republics” in place.

The Cabletow | Vol. 89, No. 4, November-December 2012 31 Liberty Leading the People (1830) by Eugene Delacroix. The painting was a close depiction of the bloody and turbulent French Revolution. Vive le France! With a buxomy commander in the lead, what man wouldn’t march and fight anywhere?

Freemasons were all over the 1776 The witty Voltaire, member of The American Revolution. George Washing- Nine Sisters Lodge in Paris, wrote books ton, commander in chief of the colonial and pamphlets that stoked the republican armies—and later became the first presi- ideas. Another Nine Sisters member, Jo- dent of the United States—came from seph-Ignace Guillotin invented the device Fredericksburg Lodge No. 4 in Virginia. that would enforce Voltaire’s ideas, the Nine signers of the U.S. Declaration of guillotine. The Duke of Orléans, Louis- Independence, and 9 signers of the U.S. Philippe-Joseph, backed the bourgeoisie in Constitution, were Freemasons. capturing the National Assembly in 1789. The Comte de Mirabeau, Honoré-Gabriel Marquis de Lafayette, the French noble Riqueti, opened the floodgates by debas- who had pushed and trapped British com- ing the absolutist monarchy into constitu- mander Lord Cornwallis in Yorktown in tional monarchy. The philosopher Comte 1780, was a Freemason. Worse, even Lord de Condorcet, Marie-Jean-Antoine-Nicolas Cornwallis was a Mason. de Caritat, advocated secular education for all. Some Masonic lodges had switched The French Freemasons followed 16 into revolutionary units that came to be years later with the Revolution of 1789. called the “Jacobin Club,” the most radical

32 The Cabletow | Vol. 89, No. 4, November-December 2012 and violent of the revolutionary factions. They thought too much. And that was And the Marquis de Lafayette, hero of the precisely what the Spanish frailes in American Revolution, drafted the era-de- Manila had opposed. Start thinking and fining Declaration of the Rights of Man soon, people get ideas, learn idealism and of the Citizen. and suddenly, everybody has ideology— with a Reign of Terror, thousands dead, That was the problem with the French. They colonies freed, and the friars strung up were Cartesians. They were philosophical. the lampposts.

Guillotine. French physician Joseph-Ignace Guillotin, member of the National Assembly and of the Nine Sisters Lodge, proposed decapitation as the newfound republic’s capital punishment. Beheading, once reserved for kings, was applied to everybody. Besides, it was swift and painless. Probably, he had wanted it first for wayward Entered Apprentices. But later, he denounced it for the many deaths it had brought. First called as Louisette, or Loui- son, it was later dubbed as la guillotine. The French underworld called it “the widow.”

The Cabletow | Vol. 89, No. 4, November-December 2012 33 Freemasons shook up hidebound Spanish monarchy

Nothing perhaps had gotten so deep Spain plunged into chaos. Even Na- into the Spanish friars’ nerves than the poleon couldn’t fix it. Maybe, Napoleon Freemasons’ messing up with the Spanish loved the Spaniards. Maybe, he loathed the hidebound order in 1810. Spaniards. Regardless, he freed and sent Fernando VII back to Spain in December French emperor Napoleon Bona- 1813. Quickly, the restored monarch ral- parte wanted to grab Spain. French sol- lied the old-liners around him, revived the diers marched into Madrid in 1809. The severest despotic powers—and discovered Madrileños rioted. Napoleon invited Fer- too late that they had been screwed. nando VII to come and visit France. And for all the inane reasons in the world, he ac- Padre Llorente cepted it—and was imprisoned in France.

Napoleon sat next his older brother Jo- seph on the Spanish throne styled as King “Jose I.” Joseph, however, was the Grand Master of the Grand Orient of France in 1805.

French liberalization

A corps of Masonic officials came with Joseph to Madrid and ran a liberalization program—abolishing the Inquisition, sup- pressing two-thirds of the convents and monastic orders, and confiscating Church properties. The Spanish liberals hated the French conquerors so they did, ironically, what the French ought to be doing—put Padre Juan Antonio Llorente. An impishly up a parliament (Cortes) and issue a liberal smiling Llorente looks like a child who has Constitution in 1812. Soon, it was hard to wrecked something but is not telling it. tell Spanish liberalization from French lib- eralization. It was harder even to tell the Spaniard from the French. Padre Juan Antonio Llorente, secretary- general of the Spanish Inquisition in Ma- Spain was a merry mess until the French drid, joined the afrancesados (“frenchified”), troops slipped here and there. They mas- the French collaborators and supporters. sacred the monks and theology students During the French occupation, he was the in Murviendo, Castellon and Valencia en inside man behind the suppression of the masse, of course. They burned the cathe- monastic orders and the subordination of dral of Solsona. And they raped the nuns of the Spanish Church to the state. Worse, he Uclés. (Understand that they were French.) ransacked the Inquisition archives and ran away with explosive documents to France.

34 The Cabletow | Vol. 89, No. 4, November-December 2012 In 1817, Llorente came out with his book Histoire critique de l’Inquisition espag- nole (“Critical History of the Spanish In- quisition”), which bared to the world for the first time the never-heard-yet stories behind this powerful but dreadful institu- tion.

His explosive exposé was followed next by an equally explosive book, Portraits poli- tiques des papes (“Political Portrait of the Popes”), in 1822.

Llorente’s enemies said he was a Freemason.

The Spanish ultra-conservative order was King Fernando VII (left). Look at him. No crumbling fast inside and out. The French con- wonder why the good-looking Fernando quest had shattered the Spanish prestige abroad. fell for the slightest cons. Teenage Queen It rudely shook the colonies awake. Trouble Isabella II (right). Good for her to inherit broke out fast in Mexico and South America. her father’s genes. Latin America

In 1810, Padre Miguel Hidalgo, cura pa- roco of the town of Dolores—and member of the Masonic Logia Arquitectura Moral— led the Grito de Dolores (Cry of Dolores) and began the Mexican War of Independ- ence. Padre Jose Maria Morelos, Hidalgo’s deputy and another Freemason, continued it backed by revolutionary commander Vi- cente Guerrero, also a Freemason. In 1821, Guerrero and Gen. Agustín de Iturbide, a Mason, received independent Mexico from Fernando VII’s representative, Juan O’Donojú, also a Mason.

In 1825, Spain lost South America to the Freemason Simon Bolivar, called El Liber- tador (The Liberator). He freed one region after another—Colombia (1820), his home- Padre Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla, Father land Venezuela (1821), Ecuador (1822), of Mexican Independence. Interestingly, the vast colony of Peru (1824), and Up- Padre Hidalgo went to the battlefield with per Peru which was later named “Bolivia” the banner of Nsra. De Guadalupe (picture (1825) in his honor. behind Hidalgo) waving over his ragtag army. Would Padre Burgos do the same Enraged by Masons who were breaking had he lived more years? up his empire, Fernando assembled a large

The Cabletow | Vol. 89, No. 4, November-December 2012 35 Simon Bolivar (left) & Joseph Bonaparte, King Jose I of Spain. (right). Bolivar was admir- ingly called “El Libertador” while Joseph was jeered by critics as “El Bote” for his drinking habit.

army and a fleet to recover the American that Fernando VII himself was to crush, in- colonies. But the punitive expedition was directly, the Spanish Church that held up his frustrated by one of the commanding of- throne. ficers. Major Rafael de Riego, a Freema- son, who led the troops in a pronunciamiento Hard as he tried to get his three wives preg- (military coup or mutiny) against Fernando nant, yet he always failed. But after wedding VII in 1820. The mutiny was said to have the fresh 23-year old Maria Cristina in 1829, been plotted in the lodges—very likely dur- the 45-year old Fernando suddenly got an ing fellowships when wine made everybody heir but a girl. Nobody was happier than the smart. lieutenant of Maria Cristina’s bodyguards. Carlist Wars Fernando revoked the old law banning girls Fernando VII actually ordered the closure from succeeding to the throne. His younger of all Masonic lodges throughout the Spanish brother, Don Carlos María Isidro de Borbón, empire—or what was left of it—on May 24, was furious. His macho followers were also 1814. A series of crackdowns followed where mad. So, when Fernando VII died in 1833, even Spanish nobles had been nabbed. Maria Cristina ruled in place of the infanta (child) Isabella II leaning on the Spanish liber- But no matter how Fernando VII loved to als for support. Don Carlos, the throne claim- restore the old order, yet Spain was already ant, rounded up the old-liners and waged a a changed country. But the biggest joke was long, savage, dynastic war called the “Carlista Wars.”

36 The Cabletow | Vol. 89, No. 4, November-December 2012 The Philippines from 1810 to 1850

At the start, we set the theory that when Spain sneezes, the Philippines catches the cold. Tremors of Spain’s capture by Na- poleon in 1810, and the ensuing chaos, also reached the Philippines. But Filipinos had taken a long time to react—if they had caught the contagion at all. They re- sponded only after all the shockwaves and aftereffects had distantly died down.

Gov.-Gen. Manuel Gonzales de Agui- lar dispatched a Philippine military unit to Cadiz to help the resistance. Next, he sent Ventura de los Reyes, a Binondo marine merchant, as deputado (deputy) to the new- found Cortes. With the Cadiz constitution in effect, a copy was sent to Manila and the

Galleon. Big and bulky, the galleon was the stuff of legends. It had kept the Pacific a Spanish Lake for 250 years. city’s patriotic citizens swore allegiance be- army hard in 1823. An order came from fore it in public on April 17, 1813. Madrid. All military officers who had been commissioned in Spain must be Similarly, Gov.-Gen. De Aguilar pro- raised one rank higher than the offic- posed to Madrid the termination of the ers in the Philippines. A lieutenant from Manila-Acapulco trade. But Manila’s gal- Spain would automatically jump to ma- leon trade players didn’t mind it at all. jor just to precede a mestizo captain. In 1811, the year’s galleon lifted anchor at Cavite and sailed its usual course to Rather than comply, a mestizo of- Mexico. ficer, Captain Andres Novales, led mu- tinous soldiers into Intramuros on June But the ship didn’t return in the year 1, 1823. But the revolt was crushed the following, even in the next. Manila con- next day. cluded that the vessel had sunk. Four years later, it appeared over Manila Bay Manila had its first modern pronun- laden with the bad news: the 250-year old ciamento (military coup). But the No- galleon trade was over. vales revolt, if anything, was just Ma- nila drawing the first blood. Since then, Crewmembers said that, when they ar- sporadic uprisings began popping up in rived in Acapulco, the city was in rebels’ greater numbers than before. hands. All the cargoes were seized. Even the silver meant to pay for the Manila com- A Recoleto cura was beheaded in Talib- modities were confiscated. Soon, the Span- ong, Cebu. The Spanish governor of Ne- ish royalist forces recovered Acapulco but gros island was assassinated in 1833. An not its wealth anymore. alcalde-mayor from Panay was shipped to Manila in an iron cage. In 1835, Fe- Stranded and uncertain, the crew re- liciano Paran rebelled against the Span- ceived a delayed order from King Fernando iards in Cavite. He had to be double- VII in 1813. The galleon trade had been crossed to take him out of his mountain abolished. hideout. In 1840, a troupe of stage ac- tors was arrested during the town fiesta Interestingly, the ship was named Magal- of Sta. Cruz in Laguna for spoofing the lanes. Just as the navigator had sailed to cir- alcalde-mayor and his government. A cle the world, the similarly named galleon former seminarian called “Hermano Pule” had already completed its circuit in 1815, led his 4,000 amulet-wearing army in a never to ply the route again. revolt in 1844 that ended in the blood- bath of the rebels, of course. Manila’s citizens were sobered up by the news. Without the galleon trade, what If this read like entertainment to you, would happen to Manila touted for its understand that the Philippines was a gold, silver and Oriental wonder prod- dull place then. ucts? How would the Spaniards, the cler- gies and other loafers in the city make By mid-1850s, it was clear that the their easy riches? Philippines was sliding downhill and no- body was stopping it. The pages flipped. A new chapter be- gan. It was time to face reality. And reality But the early 1850s wasn’t all bad struck the mestizo officers in the Spanish news. There was also progress.

38 The Cabletow | Vol. 89, No. 4, November-December 2012 1822 Segui was bugged by a mystery. Why did Juan Sebastian de Elcano, who had taken over Ferdinand Magellan’s fleet in 1521, US Consul Hubbell, pioneer arrive at Cadiz in Spain a day behind the investor and Freemason calendar? Consulting with sailors, Segui was granted revelation by the Lord that one With the galleon trade over, Manila opened degree in the map equals to four minutes its doors to investors. Besides the Spanish, the in a day. Thus, when Magellan arrived in first Westerner to come was the American the Philippines, the explorer was 16 hours shipping firm Peele, Hubbell & Company. The behind. British Wise & Company followed in 1826; the Scottish Ker & Company came in 1827. So, when it is 12 midnight in Madrid, it is already 8 o’ clock of the new day in Manila. George William Hubble, of Peele, Hubbell & Company, was the U.S. consul to Manila. Eureka! It was, well, an original friar At that time, consuls were okayed to trade. discovery. Roll out the barrel! Let’s party! Moreover, he was a Freemason. Segui wouldn’t meet Phileas Fogg until Ju- les Verne had published Around the World in But what was it with these Freemasons? Eighty Days in 1873. The archbishop cor- Say “revolution” and Masons popped up. Say rected a 321-year old error. But he wouldn’t “progress” and still, Masons were all over the admit that the Philippines is “advance” than scene. Spain.

So, when Hubbell died in 1834, his friends The Lord blessed Segui’s scientific had ordered a statue made for him. But the achievement with the arrival of the first frailes stepped in and took it away for the sim- steamship in Manila in 1845. Moreover, ple fact that Hubble was a Freemason. It had the 4-year ban on non-Spanish Westerners gathered dust in a government warehouse to live outside of Intramuros was lifted on until U.S. occupation forces found it in 1898. November 14, 1844.

After 64 years, Hubble’s statue was put Seemingly, Segui’s scientific feat was up at Plaza Cervantes in Manila. After World meant to make up for the friars’ fiasco in War II, it was transferred to the US Embassy 1840. They organized a mob that lynched grounds overlooking Manila Bay. and hacked a dozen of Western business- men to death around Manila. The culprits were the bacteria that had escaped from the 1843 bottles of a scientific French vessel which docked at Pasig. The fugitives ran, jumped Archbishop Segui into the wells, and poisoned the city’s drink- cancelled ing water. 1843 New Year’s Eve That was, certainly … ridiculous! Bac- teria were too small to wear handcuffs! Be- Manila archbishop Augustinian Jose sides, how would you picture a bacteria in Segui cancelled the Philippine celebra- the “Wanted” posters? A dot? tion of the New Year’s Eve in 1843—and showed the world that the frailes also Jesus! Why had the 1896 Revolution knew science. taken so long?

The Cabletow | Vol. 89, No. 4, November-December 2012 39 Spanish warship. A 19th century Spanish warship named Cristobal Colon. Like other Spanish iron warships of the period, it was mostly iron—and hardly any gun.

Mid-1850s bacco cargoes aboard a Spanish navy ship and paid for its lading as it was the custom then. The vessel arrived at Hong Kong but with the Businessman Reynolds, a cargoes diminished and damaged. He filed a Freemason, came to town complaint at the Hong Kong court against the ship captain, Lt. Carlos Rocca. The court, in Thomas Reynolds, a Freemason, was a for- turn, issued an arrest warrant for Rocca. mer Brit but naturalized as an American citi- zen. He had come to the Philippines around Rocca, however, defied the court’s order. the mid-1850s and established the port of He threatened to fire at any arresting officer Dagupan in Pangasinan with a large ware- who would board his ship. Another Spanish house for storing rice. navy warship docked in Hong Kong at that time sided with Rocca. Quickly, the other for- Reynolds was basically a single player who eign but modernized navies moored in Hong entered the Philippine field largely controlled Kong—British, German, Dutch, etc.—bond- by three companies. The American firms ed together. They steered close and readied to Peele & Hubbell, and Russell & Sturgis, domi- pounce on Rocca’s creaky little warship and nated the country’s foreign trade on hemp ally—had the colony’s governor not stepped and sugar products. An Englishman, Nicho- in and averted a carnage. las Loney, was exporting big quantities of Visayan sugar to Australia which beneficially The officers of the Western navies were redounded to Iloilo’s economy. Freemasons spread throughout Southeast Asia—Java, Singapore, Macao and other Chi- With borrowed funds from the Bank of nese ports. Hong Kong, he would later corner the local abaca market resulting in a supply crisis from This near-bloodbath would drive 28-year 1885 to 1888. old Spanish navy ensign, Jose Malcampo y Mongue, to establish a Masonic lodge in the A businessman, yet Reynolds would indi- Philippines. In absence of foreign policy, the rectly influence the growth of Freemasonry Masonic ties would serve as foreign relations in the Philippines. At Manila, he put his to- tool for the isolated Spanish navy and maritime officers with the Western navies in the region.

40 The Cabletow | Vol. 89, No. 4, November-December 2012 Hong Kong harbor, 1870s. Any vessel docked within the cove but had gone crazy could be cornered by an aggressive fleet and pulped into a fiber supplement.

Muelle Taculin in the 1880s before it was renamed Muelle Looney in Iloilo. Nicholas Loney made Iloilo a boom town and placed the Visayas, as well as the whole Philippines, in the world trade map. Gov.-Gen. Jose Malcampo y Mongue. Already a gover- nor-general, the former ensign proudly displays his handle- bar mustache and a military uniform seemingly copied off the Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band album.

1856 Navy officer put up first Philippine Masonic Lodge

Jose Malcampo y Mongue, a 28-year old navy ensign in Fuerza San Felipe in Cavite, established the first Masonic lodge in the Philippines, properly named Primera Luz Filipina.

Malcampo placed Primera Luz under the Gran Oriente Lusitano of Portugal which was the biggest grand body operating then in Spain.

Shortly, Malcampo organized another lodge among the Spanish naval and mer- chant marine officers in Fuerza Del Pilar in Zamboanga.

Only Spaniards were admitted to these lodges. Aduana by the Pasig. All newly-arrived vessels docked and unloaded passengers right before the aduana (customhouse).

1868 decade ago, they turned around and em- braced her in 1868. The Spanish clergies Royalist exiles were for monarchist or royalist cause— arrived in Manila even Nero—just to see the liberals crashed and burned. Shortly after the Spanish “Glorious Revolution,” a shipload of royalist ex- Hence, Col. Francisco Moscoso, then iles from Spain arrived in Manila led by Manila Governor and a Mason, saw to it a Spanish priest. No sooner had Manila’s that the royalist exiles were housed in the clergies banged the alarm bells and all of city’s finest homes and conventos free of Manila’s hidebound elements came out to charge. The old-liners openly toured as aid the deportees. they flaunted the exiles in and around the city. The deportees walked as they spent In Spain, the 38-year old Queen Isabel- money freely—supplied regularly by Ma- la II was deposed by the army that forced nila’s ultra-conservatives. Recoleto Fray her into exile in France. Aniceto Ybañez, also head of the foreign vicariate, saw to it that the exiles bound Where the Manila Carlista clergies for Guam would get a tender loving care had despised the liberal-backed queen a in the Spanish Pacific outpost.

The Cabletow | Vol. 89, No. 4, November-December 2012 43 1868 ized, composed largely of expats and a handful of Filipinos. Jacobo Zobel y Zan- gronis, a wealthy German-Spanish Spanish Masons raced mestiza parentage, was the Lodge with Europeans in Secretary. A famous actor then, Jose Carvajal, was counted among its mem- founding lodges ber.

With a political climate prevailing, Euro- Not to be left behind, the British pean Masons kicked off a race in founding Consul also put up an English lodge Masonic lodges around Manila. in the Nagtahan suburb just across Pasig River opposite to Pandacan. Lt. Col. Eugenio Garcia Ruiz, Manila’s Here, Jose Alberto Alonzo, who was chief of police and son of the Spanish the uncle of soon-to-rise Jose Ri-

The Carriedo Fountain. A weeklong festivity preceded the inaugura- tion of this pretty landmark on July 23, 1882.

Justice Minister in Madrid, established a zal, was a member. Both German and Spanish lodge in the suburb of Pandacan British lodges were under the Scottish with authority issued by the Gran Oriente Rites body in Hong Kong. de España. Significantly, these European lodges Señor Camacho, a Freemason and an began admitting Filipinos, mestizos accountant in the Aduana (customhouse), and indios alike, to membership. But helped Ruiz. Hence, the fist initiate was each lodge was carrying its country’s Enrique Paraiso, of Tayabas province, a foreign policy. The British wanted “to subordinate of Paraiso in the Aduana. make the world British.” The Germans were looking out for new territories to The German Consul-General himself conquer. Spain wanted to keep them all had a Masonic lodge in Pandacan organ- out of the Philippines.

44 The Cabletow | Vol. 89, No. 4, November-December 2012 1871 Soon, homeless and jobless Spaniards wandered the streets. Again, the Pan- dacan lodge members pulled these Filipino Freemasons Spaniards out of the sidewalks and aided exiled & jobless distributed them to indio houses that, in turn, fed and sheltered them. Spanish Republicans Antonio Ma. Regidor, in his essay With the monarchists back in power, “Masonry in the Philippines,” wrote, Filipino Freemasons took to the task “The principal support of the first of helping the exiled and jobless lib- lodge in the Philippines which was eral Spaniards. genuinely national came from the do- nations of the natives. This should be In 1870, King Amadeo—ironically a proclaimed from the rooftops.” Mason—was elected by the Cortes to become constitutional monarch. Liber- als were kicked out of power in Ma- 1872 drid. Friars whacked Aduana (customhouse) accountant Padre Burgos & liberals Señor Camacho, member of the Span- ish Pandacan lodge, discreetly collect- hard with mutiny plot ed clothes and money from Freemasons around Manila backed by his subordi- Preferring Faustian drama and the silliness nate and Freemason, Enrique Paraiso. of soap operas, the friars lashed back hard at Counted among Camacho’s supporters Padre Jose Burgos and the Filipino liberals were Freemasons like the government backing him up. official Felix Pardo de Tavera; native priest Agustin Mendoza, cura paroco of Padre Burgos was an outspoken advocate Sta. Cruz suburb; and lawyers Antonio of the Filipinization of the churches—the Ma. Regidor, Jose Basa and Ambrocio handover of the parishes to the native priests. Rianzares Bautista. That would end the frailes in the Philippines.

In two days, Camacho and Parai- Moreover, he was working with Filipino so quickly gathered a heap of usable liberals who turned out to be Freemasons. clothes and money worth 800 duros. Hence, this was the first time Filipino clergies All relief were paddled to Corregidor and Freemasons worked together. and handed over to the deportees. Recoleto friar, Fray Agapito Echegoyen, The Pandacan lodge members hand- disclosed that the heads of the orders had sat ed out Masonic charity again when together and decided to get rid of Burgos a second batch of republican exiles once and for all. Burgos was even writing stopped over at Manila on their way to Madrid—and could possible get attention to the Marianas islands in the Pacific. there.

Just when they had thought it was The frailes showed how deep their con- over, the new government fired the lib- tacts were. They bribed Governor-General erals from the government en masse. Rafael de Izquierdo with “una fuerte suma de dinero” (a strong sum of money), about

The Cabletow | Vol. 89, No. 4, November-December 2012 45 Calle Arsenal, Cavite. This led to Fuerza San Felipe in the background where navy yard workers had been tricked to mutiny in 1872.

Smiling Filipinos show how to operate the garrote. Story had it that the demon- stration turned out to be fun so that they decided to make it real.

GOMBURZA Triumvirate. Padre Burgos’ Filipinization of the parishes campaign was the first time Filipino clergies and Freemasons had teamed up.

46 The Cabletow | Vol. 89, No. 4, November-December 2012 40,000 pesos, to get in line with the plot and Once news of the mutiny reached serve the frailes. Manila, Governor-General Izquierdo had Padre Burgos and a number of liberals Hence, Izquierdo issued an edict remov- quickly arrested such as—P. Jacinto Zamo- ing the tax-exemption privileges once en- ra, (co-cura of the Manila Cathedral), P. joyed by the retired indio navy yard work- Mariano Gomez (cura of Bacoor, Cav- ers in Fuerza San Felipe in Cavite. Like the ite), Don Agustin Mendoza (cura of Sta. rest, they were to pay yearly tributes and Cruz in Manila), Don Feliciano Gomez, give free labor services. Don Antonio Regidor (eminent lawyer and municipal councilor), Joaquin Pardo Expectedly, the retirees were angered. de Tavera (counsellor of the administra- Until a certain Franciscan, Fray Claudio tion), Don Enrique Paraiso, D. Pio Basa del Arceo, came to Cavite and introduced (old employees), Don Jose Basa, Maximo himself as “Padre Burgos, cura of San Pe- Paterno, Crisanto Reyes, Ramon Maurente dro in Manila.” He hyped the disgruntled and many others. workers up to mutiny with promises of re- inforcements from Manila’s military units Padre Burgos was charged of rebel- while handing money out. lion to establish a republican government for the Americans. Francisco Saldua, a fri- Manila Cathedral was also known as the ar parrot, claimed that a U.S. fleet would “Parish of San Pedro.” come to help the rebellion.

On the night of January 20, 1872, some 200 indio soldiers and workers rose up in 1872 revolt under a Sergeant Lamadrid. They killed the officers in Fuerza San Felipe and Gov-Gen Izquierdo flim- took over the fort. Then, they fired their flammed Masonic crackdown cannons to signal their victory to the im- agined Manila comrades. Often portrayed as a bloodthirsty butch- er for executing the GOMBURZA priests, At dawn, loyalist forces poured around yet Governor-General Rafael de Izquierdo the fort. An assault was attempted but wasn’t the monster he was. He was just a failed. So, they put up a blockade and starve dog. He was just corrupt. The problem was, the enemy. Governor-General Rafael de Izquierdo was a Mason. The rebels were fully aware that the fort wasn’t stocked with food. So, they hoisted up a Possibly troubled by his conscience, or white flag. Fifteen mutineers came out to ne- what awaited him in the lodges abroad, he gotiate a surrender. After taking 15 steps, the went cautiously but smartly in meting out rebels fell down dead under a heavy barrage punishments to Freemasons implicated in of rifle fire. The loyalists crashed into the fort the Cavite mutiny. He even saved as much and rounded up the rebels. accused as he could.

The aftermath of the mutiny was a mass Three days after crashing the revolt, 41 purging of people who had been suspected of mutineers were quickly tried by a military having led or supported it. court and sentenced to die on January 26. On the next day, Izquierdo pardoned 26 of the convicts.

The Cabletow | Vol. 89, No. 4, November-December 2012 47 On February 6, 11 accused were con- he was untouched in the entire length of the demned to death. Izquierdo commuted their ruckus. sentence to life imprisonment which was ap- pealable. Marti was a lecturer and later, appoint- ed dean of the Faculty of Medicine of the On February 15, the sensational deci- University of Santo Tomas. He was married sion was issued. Padre Gomez, Burgos and to the sister of Padre Jose Burgos. He was Zamora were to die by strangulation in Ba- too prominent to be missed out. gumbayan field. But their co-accused, Free- masons Enrique Paraiso, Maximo Inocencio Izquierdo did try to save Masons. After and Crisanto De Los Reyes were sentenced all, he had already sold them out. Executing to 10 years deportation in Cartagena in them would be embarrassing to the canine Spain. Again, exile was appealable. class. Dogs are loyal. Izqueirdo was not.

On February 29, 8 more were ordered to be executed. But on March 8, Izquierdo pulled 20 convicts out of the death list in one stroke and commuted their sentence to deportation in San Ignacio de Agana in Guam. Many were Freemasons.

If anything, Izquierdo flip-flopped the military court’s decisions. Of the 63 muti- neers accused, 50 were saved from certain death.

An 1872 contemporary, one Rafael Ma. Labra, wrote about the unexpected turn of the event, “The persons accused of having contributed to the same and even having taken some part in the bloody insurrection of 1872 were taken in comfortable vessels to the very gates of Spain, to Cadiz, Ceuta where they could plead with the central government for justice or mercy. Note the contrast.” [Emphases added.]

To say that Izquierdo had hunted Masons down was totally false. In Cebu, a Masonic lodge, Logia Española, was raided and shut down by the local police. But why hit a re- mote provincial lodge when they teemed around Manila?

If Izquierdo had ordered a crackdown, then Mariano Marti, a 33o Spanish Mason and a popular medical doctor in Manila, would be the first to go. But he didn’t. Again,

48 The Cabletow | Vol. 89, No. 4, November-December 2012 Magallanes Monument & Drive. A monument to Ferdinand Magel- lan (below) used to stand at the foot of Puente Espana (now Jones Bridge) where the National Press Club building now rises. It was at the head of the breezy Paseo Magallanes where people used to stroll and even dine out (right).

The Cabletow | Vol. 89, No. 4, November-December 2012 49 Guam village in the 19th century. Windswept, desolate, and typhoon-beaten— the backwardness of Guam had made the Filipino exiles felt like they never left home.

HK Freemasons rescued Filipino bros in Guam Right after the Cavite Mutiny convicts was a principal associate in the Anthony landed at Guam, Freemasons in Hong Brothers trading firm. Kong jumped into action to snatch their Filipino bros from this remote Spanish Pa- With Doiron set up and waiting in cific outpost. Guam, Reynolds sent the schooner Ameri- cana Rupax, captained by a certain M. Hol- Where Izquierdo had disgraced Freema- can, to Agana. On signal, Regidor discreet- sonry, the Hong Kong Masons redeemed it. ly boarded the two-masted ship disguised Antonio Ma. Regidor, who was among as a priest. Quickly, it sailed down to Yap the exiles, wrote in his essay Masonry in in the adjacent Caroline islands where he the Philippines, “The Masonic lodges of transferred to the boat Islander. Hongkong (German and English) agreed to bring to their camp the persecuted Fili- Next, the Islander sailed farther down pinos.” to Solomon islands to throw possible pur- suers off track until it turned back and Guam was a strange territory. So, they dropped anchor at Palau. Then it steered dispatched M. Doiron, a captain of the west to Maluku (Moluccas) where Regidor French schooner Anne, to Guam’s capital, hopped next into the German schooner Agana. Here, he put up residence and a Coheren bound for Hong Kong. lodge under the Hong Kong Scottish Rite. Soon, he established contacts with the ban- Regidor was unclear on who were the ished Filipino Masons and counted heads. other escapees that had ran away with him. They were many. He wrote, “The escap- Passing the intelligence to the British ees were eventually transferred to the German colony, J.J. Reynolds, a master of a promi- schooner, Coheran and were brought to Hong- nent Hong Kong lodge, assembled next the kong.” [Emphasis added.] team that would spring up the exiles. He

50 The Cabletow | Vol. 89, No. 4, November-December 2012 Calle Colon in Cebu City. Colon —the oldest street in the Philippines—was named after Cristobal Co- lon (i.e.Christopher Columbus). Obviously, Filipinos then were camera-shy.

1874

Burgos’ brod in law led Bro. Marti laid out principles organization of lodges for propaganda campaign across the country Initiates to the newfound Spanish Gran Mariano Marti, brother-in-law of the Oriente lodges were instructed on the how- executed Padre Jose Burgos, spearheaded tos of racial relations between members. the organization of Masonic lodges across Antonio Ma. Regidor, in his essay Masonry the country. in the Philippines, wrote that Marti used to tell Filipino Masons the following— On March 1, 1874, he established the Logia Luz de Oriente No. 6 in Manila. No. Spain is not the friars. Hate the lat- ter; but love Spain and the Spanish Liberals Next, he revived Logia La Española in and Masons, who likewise detest the monastic Cebu which had been raided by the vet- institutions as was proven in 1836, when they erana in 1872. Aduana accountant Señor slaughtered the friars in the Peninsula. We will Camacho, who had been transferred to this make your complaints heard and acted upon Visayan city after the Cavite mutiny, helped by the Spanish Government; if you will unite Marti significantly. with the Spanish Masons and will use only le- gal means to regain your rights, you will find In Iloilo, Marti established Logia La Lib- newspapers in Spain, educate your children ertad with the help of Juan Ortadeno, an there, petition for representation in Parliament, engineer. and agitate for the acceptance of these senti- ments. Rufino Pascual Torrejon, a sub-inspector general de Sanidad Militar and 33o Mason, From the lodges, the instruction leapt to was behind Marti in the spread of Free- become the operative principle behind the masonry. He was empowered by the Gran Propaganda Movement. And this was what Oriente de España to constitute lodges. the propagandistas had exactly done.

The Cabletow | Vol. 89, No. 4, November-December 2012 51 Joaquin H. Pardo de Tavera had shaken off his sentence in 1875. But too vexed and humbled by the 1872 event, he left Manila and settled down in Paris with his wife Ju- liana for good.

Jose Basa resumed his law practice in Cavite but returned to Hong Kong.

Cartagena deportees

Exiles in Cartagena, a navy port city in southeastern Spain, was luckier. An upris- ing that broke out had afforded them the chance to escape to France. Jose Basa, patriot. The 1872 exiles unwit- tingly readied the way-stations for the Maximo Inocencio obtained his pardon propagandistas to come as they spread out in Marseilles. On his return to the Philip- to the West. pines, he resumed his former construction business. He joined Logia España en Filipi- nas No. 211 and was active in Freemasonry. 1876 Crisanto de los Reyes also returned home in 1876. He made it big as a ship chandler 1872 exiles settled down abroad and donor to many charities.

Four years after the vile Cavite mutiny Finally, Enrique Paraiso stayed in France plot, the star-crossed victims who had been where he actively took part in French and deported abroad finally got their pardon. Algerian Freemasonry and helped perse- But many hardly set foot on their homes cuted Filipinos. He never returned to the again. Philippines.

On November 23, 1874, a general am- nesty was issued to all convicts of the 1872 1884 Cavite mutiny. Many got to avail of it only after a couple of years later. Gran Oriente Nacional set foot in Manila Guam deportees The Gran Oriente Nacional de España ar- From the British colony, Antonio Ma. rived in the Philippines through its Grand Regidor traveled to Marseilles in France Delegate, Jose Centeno. Mariano Marti’s and appeared before the Spanish consul in Logia Luz de Oriente No. 6, founded in 1874, Paris in April 1876 where he obtained par- switched to this Orient and was re-char- don. tered accordingly.

Picking up the pieces of his shattered Centeno was chief of the Mining Bureau life, Regidor went and lived in London in the Philippines from 1876 to 1886. He where he resumed his lawyering profes- was appointed Civil Governor of Manila by sion. Also, he took correspondent jobs for Gov.-Gen. Emilio Terrero on April 30, 1887 a couple of publications. to complete the “Triangulo de los 33o .”

52 The Cabletow | Vol. 89, No. 4, November-December 2012 1887

Triangulo de los 33o faced the friars mano-a-mano

A troika of liberal Spanish adminis- trators—and 330 Masons—governed the country briefly but with striking results. Liberal Spanish Prime Minister Práxedes Mateo Sagasta appointed Emilio Terrero as governor-general of the Philippines, backed by Benito Quiroga, Director Gen- eral for Civil Administrations.

Sagasta was the Grand Master of the Gran Oriente de España, the Spanish grand lodge.

Pope Leo XIII. He was actually good in Jose Centeno, Civil Governor of the spiritual matters than in socio-political Province of Manila, was appointed by Ter- discourses. rero later in 1887.

Called as the “Triangulo de los 33o,” the triad dealt with the friars straightly. Ter- 1884 rero sacked the Binondo cura paroco, Padre Jose Havia Campomanes, for favoring the Pope Leo XIII Chinese to chair the town fiesta committee branded constitutional over the indios who had the right of place. governments “Satanic” Similarly, Quiroga, citing a forgotten 1856 health law, banned the costly but unsani- Of the previous papal bulls and encyc- tary church service of displaying corpses licals issued against Freemasonry, Pope openly during church wake. Leo XIII’s was the most dramatic. Moreover, Terrero okayed the establish- The encyclical, titled Humanum Genus, ment of an orphanage and a vocational came out on April 20, 1884. It denounced school in the town of Malolos in Bula- Freemasonry for hyping people up to can—even giving it a start-up fund—on write their own laws, elect their own the petition of lawyer Marcelo Del Pilar. rulers, allow laymen (not churchmen) He swept aside the friars’ protest on the to educate children, wed by civil cere- grounds of Pope Leo XIII’s bull. mony, take all religions equally, separate the Church from the State—all under a 1887 loathsome principle called “liberty.” Gov. Terrero protected Rizal All this, to Pope Leo XIII’s mind, was “Satanic.” While controversial author Jose Rizal

The Cabletow | Vol. 89, No. 4, November-December 2012 53 Calle Centeno, Sta. Cruz, Manila. Wide damages caused by the 1886 earthquake prompted the city administration to order residents to switch to iron roof sheets in place of the traditional tiles. Falling brick tiles could break skulls but iron sheets could … cut heads off? (Was the street named after Civil Governor Jose Centeno?)

appeared under close surveillance short of Spanish officer, Lt. Jose Taviel de Andrade. Old- an arrest, yet he was actually coming well liners were appeased by the 24/7 tail on Rizal. secured by special favor from Gov.-Gen. So were the Masons who had seen a Solomonic Emilio Terrero y Perinat. decision on Terrero’s fulfillment of his obligation to a brother in distress. Rizal’s novel, Noli Me Tangere, came off the press on March 21, 1887 and had Jose Rizal was initiated in Acacia Lodge No. 9 stirred the frailes in Manila restless since in Madrid in 1885. then. The author came home on August 5, 1887. But since Rizal’s arrival, Gov.-Gen. Terrero next passed Rizal’s novel to the Per- Terrero had been pestered by the clergies manent Commission on Censorship for judg- to brand Rizal “dangerous” and arrest him. ment. The body issued its prejudiced findings on Two weeks in the Philippines, Rizal was December 29. summoned by Gov.-Gen. Terrero. After a second conference, the author left Ter- Seemingly, Terrero vied time for Rizal who left rero’s office with a bodyguard, a cultured the country on February 3, 1888.

54 The Cabletow | Vol. 89, No. 4, November-December 2012 Spanish-era Escolta at end of 1890s. Escolta was Manila’s Wall Street. Foreign compa- nies held offices here. Signboard “Ingles” on the left said it was an English hotel. Next to it was “Oto” which—according to my Spanish—was a car sales company.

The Cabletow | Vol. 89, No. 4, November-December 2012 55 Original cover of Jose Rizal’s novel Noli Me Tangere (1887). The illustrations, Rizalistas say, are actually symbols loaded with coded meanings. How many can you crack?

56 The Cabletow | Vol. 89, No. 4, November-December 2012 What had bugged the frailes about the Noli

The novel Noli Me Tangere infuriated mally, they are nosy and meticulous, the friars. The cover alone said it all. specific to the last detail. Remember There was an illustration of a woman Remember Fray San Agustin’s long at the upper part which continued onto racial slurs against the Filipinos? a friar’s habit—with legs with stubby hair—showing below. What Rizal Being specific is the essence of probably meant was, the friars were … childcare. So, you hear mom yell women. Understand that it was a very “Don’t touch that!” Or “Don’t put the macho society then. Call a man a mujer cat in the microwave open!” If she or a maricon and there goes your front yells, you probably did something … teeth. Seemingly, Rizal not only knew fun? how to provoke a fight. He knew well how to jeer at his enemies. But there is a whole lot of difference between having a mom and But being “Rizal” having friars. For the meant being intel- first 100 hundred ligent at all things years, the friars at all times. So, (like moms) what was deep taught in- about the cover dios to talk drawing? In and walk. But in the his novel, the next 200 friars were like years, the women when friars told scorned—bit- indios to sit ter while hid- down and ing behind the shut up. government pitted against And they never Ibarra or Isa- saw the irony in gani. But nor- calling their sons

Jose T. de Andrade. Rizal’s bodyguard

The Cabletow | Vol. 89, No. 4, November-December 2012 57 1888 Manifest rally revived reform movement

With the 1872 Filipino reformadores ganized the Comite de Propaganda which gone, yet the country’s failed reform cam- would fund the reform campaign in Spain. paign was renewed almost single-handedly Then, he slipped out of Manila on October by lawyer and writer Marcelo Del Pilar by 30, 1888 and into Barcelona. way of the Marcha de Manifestacion of 1888. Let’s hand it to Del Pilar. He was the maestro politico among the 1896 heroes. While still in college, Del Pilar was a He was sharp. He was fast. He was outspo- regular attendee of Padre Jose Burgos’ ken. He was great. But strategy? He knew nightly lectures at an almacen (warehouse) nothing about strategy! He just didn’t get in Malabon besides his contemporaries Nu- it. Distracting the clergies from church meriano Adriano and Paciano Rizal. business was like, well … like distracting a crocodile from eating your baby. When he Winning little reform battles in Bulacan, did, the crocodile leapt and chased him. So he went national. He organized some 300 off to Spain he fled. gobernadorcillos (village chieftains) and principalias (prominent citizens) of Manila province’s arabales (suburbs) into a rally like Doroteo Cortez, Jose Anacleto Ramos, and Timoteo Paez—all Freemasons.

From Sta. Cuz suburb, they marched into Intramuros on October 1, 1888 chanting Viva el rey! Viva el ejercito! Fuera los frailes! (Long live the king! Long live the army! Down with the friars!) They demanded for the suppression of the Spanish religious orders and the handover of the parishes to Filipino clergies, among others.

It was bold. It was frank. It was a first. And it whipped up the Junta de Autoridades to nab the organizers.

Sensing the autoridades closing in on him, Del Pilar switched to Plan B. He or-

Marcelo H. Del Pilar. The master politician among the propagandistas. District Coventions

By VW Jovy Magbanua, HEAAGM

The Masonic Heartlands Always on the road, our traveling Brother, VW Jovy Magbanua, takes shots and writes down notes on the district conventions he has gone to over the past months across our grand jurisdiction.

Going to District Conventions is an experience Masons must never miss. The business is the same all over. The District Deputy Grand Masters (DDGMs) present reports. The body discusses and passes a resolution. The Senior Grand Lecturer steps in to give Ma- sonic Education. The Grand Master checks on the bros and caps the event with a speech on the issue of the day or a topic of his choice.

The plenary session is labor. But before and after are the stuff Brotherhood is made of—with amazing discoveries to tell.

So, going to conventions give a picture, or a collage, of the Masonic heartlands—places where the Brethren assembled most and Masonry thrives. But a word play gives “heart- land” another meaning—a place where Masonic affection rules.

Thus, at another and finer level, this is what a District Convention is. This is also what I have tried to capture in text and photos here. Warm affections have I earned in my many trips. Brethren are met. Some names are remembered. Some names—for my failure to take Memoplus—are forgotten. But just the same, their faces and memories live in me.

Nov. 9-10, 2012. 57th Mindanao Regional Convention. Camiguin Convention Center, Mambajao, Camiguin.

From Cagayan de Oro City port, the Centennial Grand Master’s party had to board a boat and attack the Bohol Sea to get to our brethren in Camiguin island. But it was worth the effort. Warm hospitality awaited us at the island-province. Besides, cruising a calm sea with a breathtaking view of the sunset was refreshing.

Our host, VW Salic B. Dumarpa, DDGM of Masonic District RX-B (Camigu- in and Misamis Oriental), unwittingly had lots of warm friendship in store. The ladies gave a musical number at the Grand Master’s Night. Even the province’s governor,

The Cabletow | Vol. 89, No. 4, November-December 2012 59 Grand Master’s Nite at Camiguin. MW Gabionza chatted with Camiguin governor Jurdin Jesus Romualdo who thumbed up before the camera. RW Tom Rentoy was busy with his sms. Lanzones, the province’s top product, was the centerpiece of every table.

Jurdin Jesus Romualdo, comfortably sat down with the brethren and belted out tunes. The host, Camiguin Island Lodge No. 296 F. & A. M., knew how to have fun.

November 16-17, 2012. 7th Mindanao Scottish Rite Convention Socsksargen Masonic Center, Gen. Santos City

Centennial Grand Master Santiago T. Gabionza and Sovereign Grand Commander MW Juanito P. Ab- ergas, PGM led the Orient of Socsksargen in a wreath-laying ceremony at the Rizal Monument in Gen. Santos City plaza. On the fourth row is GLP Assistant Grand Treasurer VW Dennis T. Gabionza. On the seventh row is MW Peter Lim Lo Suy, PGM.

60 The Cabletow | Vol. 89, No. 4, November-December 2012 November 24, 2012. NCR Multi-District Convention 2012 New Plaridel Masonic 1440 San Marcelino, Ermita, Manila

Barely had we recovered from our Camiguin trip when rushed to the GLP and attend the NCR Multi-District Convention. VW Gregorio G. Arcangel, DDGM of Masonic District NCR-A was the host.

Quezon City Lodge No. 122 brethren who came to the NCR convention. (from left to right) Jason Albelda, Romulo Marcelo, Godo Velarde, Jr., Centennial Grand Master MW Santiago Gabi- onza, Jr, VW Benito Se, Jr. and Eugene Tolentino.

November 30, 2012. 80th Annual District Convention of Region IV A-1 Atheneum School, Noveleta, Cavite

GLP's big guns. (From left to right) Convention’s special guest VW Voltaire Gazmin; GLP Grand Treasurer MW Rudyar- do Bunda, PGM; Centennial Grand Master MW Santiago Gabionza, Jr.; and Junior Grand Warden RW Tomas Rentoy III.

The Cabletow | Vol. 89, No. 4, November-December 2012 61 Nov. 30, 2012. 1st Region IV A-2 Cavite District Convention. Gen. Trias Convention Center, Gen. Trias, Cavite

Token apron. VW Emmanuel Velasco, DDGM RIV A-2 handed Centennial Grand Master MW Santi- ago Gabionza, Jr. a souvenir apron. Senior Grand Warden RW Alan Purisima is on the left. Located in an all-Aguinaldo territory, yet the brethren here paid tribute to Illus. Bro. Andres Bonifacio.

Sightseeing at the breath-taking Sumaging Cave in Sagada. (from left to right) an uniden- tified Brother; VW Apolonio Bait, Grand Pursuiv- ant; Centennial Grand Master MW Santiago Gabionza, Jr, and VR Jessie Alto, Grand Chaplain.

62 The Cabletow | Vol. 89, No. 4, November-December 2012 December 1, 2012. 20th Northeastern Luzon Multi-District Convention Multi-Purpose Building, Bontoc, Mt. Province

Right after the Cavite District Convention, we rushed back to Quezon City and jumped into a. waiting bus generously provided by the brethren of Mountain Province. VW Nor- berto M. Cue, Sr., Grand Sword Bearer and a native of Bontoc, was at hand to see us get to his hometown safely.

Opening of the Northeast Luzon Multi-District Convention. (From left to right) VR Jesse Alto, Grand Chaplain; VW Norberto M. Cue, Sr., Grand Sword Bearer; Centennial Grand Master MW Santiago Gabionza, Jr.; VW Benjamin Mangacheo, DDGM of Masonic District CAR-A; VW Felixberto Viernes, DDGM RII-E; VW Ramon Lugo, DDGM RII-B; VW Benjamin Lasam, DDGM RII-C; VW Romy Cua, RII-D; and VW Oscar Damil, DDGM RII-A.

The party was a merry caboodle of brethren, ladies and lewisas. On board were: Sister Ai- leen T. Gabionza; VW Jose Gabionza, PDGL; VW Jesse Alto, Grand Chaplain; Sister Michelle Alto; VW Romalino Valdez, Senior Grand Deacon; VW Apolonio Bait, Grand Pursuivant; VW Hector Emberga, DDGM MD R XII-A; VW Walter Lagadan (now deceased); Sister Lalaine Magbanua; Sister Alma Rafaella Tayo, Past Grand Guardian; Sister Nancy Jalipa, Past Miss Philippines Job’s Daughters; and Sister Mikey Rualo, the incumbent Miss Philippines Job’s Daughters.

The 11-hour trip paid off. VW Benjamin C. Mangacheo, DDGM of Masonic District CAR- A and convention organizer, mustered all the DDGMs—and some 300 brethren delegates. Peaks and ravines were no match to the determination of our Cordillera brethren.

Moreover, Bontoc Lodge No. 140 F. & A.M., the host lodge, very well knew what “caring for the brethren” is all about.

The Cabletow | Vol. 89, No. 4, November-December 2012 63 Feature

By Bro. Ariston B. Samilin

The Widow’s Son in You How must we imitate Hiram Abiff in this age of i-pods, GPS and telemarketing?

Master Masons are called Widow’s Son Hiram Abiff humbly listened to the tower- after the celebrated but tragic artist Hiram ing figures who had worked with him, King Abiff. According to both Masonic lore and Solomon and Hiram of Tyre. Biblical accounts, he was a widow’s son from the tribe of Naphtali. Fourth, with humility and talent, a mod- ern widow’s son knows his place in the Today, we have been charged to emulate lodge, especially when it turns into a bee- the exemplary character of Grand Master hive of labor. He is a team player. Hiram Abiff. But how must we imitate this Masonic idol in an era of i-pods, GPS, and Fifth, as a team player, a modern widow’s telemarketing? son is proficient in all areas of lodge labors so that he can zealously take whatever the First, a modern widow’s son is, and Worshipful Master throws at him. Where should be, desirous of knowledge which he some masons ran away from their obliga- will use for the service of his fellow Ma- tions, Hiram Abiff fulfilled the contract to sons in particular and mankind in general. the letter. Hiram Abiff, despite his humble begin- nings, was somebody in his time. Without Sixth, a modern widow’s son travels our Illustrious Brethren with brains, tal- as a worthy and zealous individual. With ents and spirit, how would Freemasonry humility, talent and proficiency, he is se- survive through the millennia? How would cured in himself and among his brethren. the world establish constitutional govern- That is enough for wages. But the ruffians ments, enjoy more civil rights and start on were not. They were parasites. They bul- 20th century arts and sciences? lied their way and stole what they had not earned. They were the predecessors of the Second, no matter how talented Hiram unmasonic Masons. Abiff was, yet his talent never got into his head. His daily devotions to the Ever-Liv- A widow’s son, in spirit and in charac- ing God for inspiration meant that he was ter, should reside in you—in all the days of only borrowing ideas from the Almighty, your life. making himself into a humble channel of the divine. Bro. Ariston B.Samilin is a member of San Jose Third, a modern widow’s son obeys his Del Monte Lodge No. 357 F. & A. M. in San Jose superiors just as he urges obedience to his Del Monte, Bulacan. inferiors. Highly-skilled that he was, yet

64 The Cabletow | Vol. 89, No. 4, November-December 2012 Community Service

NCR-B gives free medical mission

Masonic District NCR-B, under the leadership of VW Reynato M. Paynaganan, held a free medical mission at Baranggay Sipac-Almacen, Navotas City on Dec. 23, 2012.

Stationed at the Baranggay Hall, the Brethren extended services to some 140 indigent residents. The project was conducted jointly with Biak-na-Bato Lodge No. 7 F. & A. M. under WM Wilfredo Cayabyab.

Other participating lodges were Nilad Lodge No. 12, Island Luz Minerva Lodge No. 5, Labong Lodge No. 59, and Bagumbayan Lodge No. 4. PNP SOCO (Scene of the Crime Operatives) also lent services. In Due Form

By Bro. Jonathan R. Amoroso

The End

An unusual tremor rocks California. Jelo’s butt on the day of the reckoning. Then roads begin to crack. A black lim- ousine is chased by a collapsing highway. Many folks missed the point. This is Grounds caved in hundreds of meters be- a sharp contrast to what have happened low. Oceans swelled by the seconds. Tsu- many years ago when a sort of a dooms- nami waves carpeted the cities. day one-day-of-darkness was also fore- told. Children stayed at home with their If the prediction of the Mayans turns parents in the event that the omen actu- out to be true, the above scenes from the ally arrives. They held hands, prayed, movie 2012 have very well portrayed thanked and praised the Lord. what could happen on that infamous day of December 21, 2012. According to in- From another perspective though, the ternet posts, the 2012 phenomenon is a end of the physical world is of no mo- range of eschatological beliefs. Cataclys- ment to Masons. It is said that the “lesson mic and transformative events would oc- of the final step is that every man must cur. This date is regarded as the end-date die. But if he reached the light, he over- of a 5,125-year-long cycle in the Mesoa- comes death and achieves immortality… merican Long Count calendar. As such, the death which faces the candidate in the Mayan festivities commemorate the date Third Degree will cause him to recognize in countries that used to be part of the that he is no more a psychological being Mayan empire (Mexico, Guatemala, Hon- who has both a soul and a body.” duras, and El Salvador). In essence, man needs not wait for the Others suggested that the date marks Mayan soothsaying to fall out. Life will the end of the world. Scenarios are likely end with or without it. The human heart the arrival of the next solar maximum, will have its final beat in time. The air that an interaction between the Earth and the gives life will grow thinner and will elude black hole at the center of the galaxy. Or the human lungs even during the windi- the Earth’s collision with a planet called est day of the year. His eyes will eventu- “Nibiru.” ally close and darkness shall be his entire landscape even if the sun still majestically A moment as eventful as this would have sits in her afternoon thrones. And every- driven one to think what one is likely to thing will be nothing. do if it were really his last day on Earth. Surprisingly, Mang Joel, my favorite bar- If by our acts we have made this world ber, replied that he was inclined to touch a better world –this is all that matters in the end.

66 The Cabletow | Vol. 89, No. 4, November-December 2012 Announcements Calling for IMES Enrollees

Registration is now on for the Institute of prudence, Laws and Regulations; and Lodge Masonic Education and Studies (IMES) class Management. to be held at the Grand Lodge of the Philip- pines in Manila. Each subject costs Php 600; hence, a total of Php 3,000 per course. The venue aims to conveniently serve Masons who are based in On January 19, the institute and around the National Capital concluded its first Extension Region (NCR). Class in 2013 in Camp Crame, Quezon City. Since May 2011, Once registration reaches to thir- the IMES has conducted special- ty (30) enrollees, a class is set and is ly-arranged “out-of-town” classes good to go. in Tuguegarao, Vigan, Isabela, Olongapo, Cabanatuan, Balanga, Los Baños and Naga. Five subjects are up for study, as follows: For more information, please call VW Renato Masonic History; Liturgy. Rituals and Cer- Briz, Director of Operations, at 09212600202 emonies; Philosophy and Symbolism, Juris- and 09153152373.

GLP Hostel now open to the Brethren

The Grand Lodge of the Philippines The third floor is split into 8 single and (GLP) Hostel, located right within the double occupancy rooms; 3 for triple and GLP compound, is now accepting guests quadruple occupancies—with the same and reservations. amenities mentioned.

The 20-room hostel, in various sizes, is Room rate for a single-occupancy room run by the Order of the Amaranth under is Php 900 a day; for double, Php 1,000. Sis. Araceli Dela Cruz, Grand Royal Ma- tron. The ground floor is given to the Ma- Dormitory-type rooms can also be sonic Supply Center and Appendant Bod- had—with 2 double-deck beds and single ies’ offices. bed. Room rate is Php 300 per head a day.

The second floor is divided into 5 rooms Masons can book or inquire by calling for single and double occupancies; 2 for tri- Sis. Lalaine Magbanua, Operations Manag- ple and quadruple occupancies. Amenities er, through landline number (02)5227407 include air-conditioning units, hot & cold or mobile number 09178490963. showers, and LCD televisions.

The Cabletow | Vol. 89, No. 4, November-December 2012 67 Out of the Humdrum

By VW Robert Asuncion

A Lodge of Magicians—Really

1. The Invisible Lodge founded in 1953 New Zealand meet in the evening, Day- in New York by Bro. Brewerton H. Clarke light Lodges meet at lunchtime or during also known as Sir Felix Korim. The mem- the day. bership of the lodge is exclusively for per- forming magicians who were Masons. 6.Said to be the first daylight Lodges in the world are Thespian Lodge No. 232 and 2. One of the most exclusive masonic Orpheus Lodge No. 394 . they were estab- group is The Society of Blue Friars. Memb- lished to cater for brethren who because of ship is by invitation only and is limited to their employment in the entertainment and masonic authors. Founded in 1932, the so- media could not attend Masonic meetings ciety admitted its one hundreth member in at nighttime. 2011. Membership growth is slow because its bylaws allows that only one new friar 7. Early Operative Masons are accus- shall be appointed each year. tomed to making their ‘mark’ upon stones. In Speculative Freemasonry our most dis- 3. The Detroit Masonic Temple is tinctive personal ‘mark’ used nearly on a the world’s largest Masonic Temple. daily basis is our signature. The two words: The building houses a wide-variety of Ne Varietur literally mean: “It shall not be public spaces including three auditori- varied (or altered)” alluding to a Mason’s ums and two ballrooms, a 160’ x 100’ signature. clear-span Drill Hall. Recreational fa- 8. The largest Master’s chair is in Ophir cilities also includes a swimming pool, Lodge #33 Murphys, CA. It is 15 feet long racquet ball court, gymnasium, bowl- and can seat the Master, living Past Mas- ing alley, and a pool hall. There are ters, and visiting dignitaries. also numerous lodge rooms, offices, and dining spaces as well as an ‘hotel’ 9. In 1920, Gate City Lodge #522 in tower designed for visiting members. Kansas City MO met every day of the week Its Theatre is considered as one of the except Sunday to confer a record 1,107 de- finest in the United States and has a grees, averaging 21 degrees a week. seating capacity of 4,404. 10. The Hollywood Forever Cemetery 4. In the old days before the advent of is a famous landmark in Los Angeles. It electricity, lodges would meet just before is the final resting place to some of Hol- every full moon so that the brethren would lywoods famous names, Rudolf Valen- have light to travel. They are called “ Moon tino, Tyrone Power, Jane Mansfield and Lodges” . This is a tradition that can be Bros. Mel Blanc and Cecile DeMille. One dated back to the 1400’s .There are still a of the most interesting facts aboutmthe number of Lodges practicing the said tra- cemeterymis that it is once the home of a dition. Masonic Lodge, Southland Lodge No. 617 which was chartered in 1925 by the Grand 5. While most Freemasons Lodges in Lodge of California.

68 The Cabletow | Vol. 89, No. 4, November-December 2012